Savory Showdown: Gyoza-Eating Championship

The 2016 record? Competitor Matt "The Megatoad" Stonie ate 323 potstickers in 10 minutes.

Potsticker-obsessed people have been there before at various restaurants around town.

We're talking about that moment when a plate of delicious packets of dippable goodness suddenly appears before your group, the appetizer to the main meal, when... You pause to count how many potstickers there are, and make sure everyone gets a least one.

Fingers crossed, of course, that there will be more than that. Two dumplings per person is, of course, even better, and three is better than that.

There's a different sort of counting, though, at the Day-Lee Foods World Gyoza Eating Championship, a savory staple of the Nisei Week Japanese Celebration.

Powerhouses of potstickery'll be front-and-center'd at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center on Saturday, Aug. 26, all to see who can chow down on the most gyoza goodness over the course of 10 speedy minutes.

The time is 2 p.m., and spectators'll fill the area out well in advance of that hour.

What's the ultimate record to beat? Joey Chestnut downed 384 Day-Lee Foods Gyoza at the 2014 competition, while the 2016 winner, Matt "The Megatoad" Stonie devoured 323 potstickers in that tight window of time.

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If all of this makes you want to go find your own plate of a dozen delicious dumplings at your favorite dumpling house, well, you should.

But keep in mind that the Nisei Week frolics and fun times continue, right through to the late afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 27, so make sure you're doing all that you'd like to do at the historical, joyous, and, yes, dumpling-dazzling celebration.

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