With my unhealthy obsession with trying new foods, I avidly watched each reaction video on Snapchat and YouTube when the Korean Spicy Noodle Challenge went viral. Wanting to take part in the fun, I got together with my friends seniors Smrithi Balebail and Elicia Ye to take on the challenge.

The spicy noodle challenge tests people’s spice tolerance. It challenges people try to finish a bowl of Korean spicy noodles as fast as possible without the help of other foods or drinks like cucumbers or milk.

As someone of  Korean heritage, I regularly eat spicy foods. Since Smrithi also has a high spice tolerance, we were confident that we would be able to finish our bowls without drinking any milk or water. On the other hand, Elicia was hesitant but still excited to try the noodles.

We began by boiling water and then placing the block of  noodles into the pot.  Upon pouring in the spicy sauce, we were amazed and slightly nervous at how red the noodles were turning.

We split the noodles into three bowls and poured out glasses of milk just in case. For fun, Elicia decided to vlog the challenge and we began to chow down on the noodles.

A few minutes into the challenge, Smrithi and I found ourselves actually enjoying the food. Even though the aftertaste was pretty spicy (much like a jalapeño), I felt no pain from the spice; instead, it just heated up our tongues. Elicia, however, picked up the glass of milk as she stuck out her tongue, panting. Determined to finish her bowl, she continued to down her noodles while laughing and tearing up.

Though Smrithi and I finished our bowls, we found ourselves together again in Smrithi’s kitchen the following day to eat the noodles again for fun. While the challenge didn’t result in any extreme reactions, we were excited about our new love for spicy noodles — except for Elicia, of course.