(UPDATE: See Part 3 - Pho Challenge-Do Tak and Andrew Finish? Experts Weigh-In on the Health Risks of Competitive Eating)

Food challenges are a time-honored tradition in America and, in recent years, have become a full-blown trend thanks to TV food shows.

Here in San Francisco, the restaurant Pho Garden has given that tradition an Asian twist. Their food challenge? Eat two pounds of noodles and two pounds of tripe in an hour. (You don’t have to drink the broth, which would make the challenge impossible for mere mortals.)

Since Pho Garden started the “Pho Challenge” in the summer of 2009, more than 3,000 people have tried to accomplish the feat, says co-owner Tammy Nguyen.

The success rate? Between 6% and 8%.

The record time? 15 minutes

The general profile of people who try the challenge? College-age men. Only three women have completed the challenge at Pho Garden’s San Francisco location.

The oldest person to complete the challenge? A 55-year-old man, who completed the challenge in 20 minutes.

The most famous person to try? Power-eater Joey Chestnut, whose claim to fame is devouring 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes. He finished the Pho Challenge in about 15 minutes, drank the soup and ate a fried banana ice cream.

The reward? Your picture on the wall of fame and the custom made ceramic bowl the noodles came in. Custom made because Tammy couldn’t find a bowl large enough for the challenge.

Queena Kim

Tak starts in on the "Pho Challenge," which is in a custom made bowl. Note the regular size bowl of pho in front.

The idea came from Tammy’s husband Brenden Lam, who is a voracious noodle eater and loves a challenge.  They tested the idea at Tammy’s mom’s house – she cooks noodles for the family every Friday night. Brendan always has the largest bowl.

“We asked my mom, how many noodles are in a bag?” Tammy said.

The answer was about a pound. And so Brenden told Tammy’s mom, cook two-and-a-half bags. He couldn’t finish. The next time, Brenden went down to two pounds. He consumed the noodles in about 30 minutes. 

Brendan and Tammy decided to give challengers an hour and the “Pho Challenge” was born. For the record, Tammy also tried the challenge but gave up after 15 minutes.

“It’s a guy thing,” Tammy said. “You see a bunch of guys come in to the restaurant and one guy says, ‘Hey I can do that!’ and then his friend say ‘So can I!”

Game on.

Well two such guys were Tak and Andrew and videographer Tanya Jo Miller taped them as they took the challenge. Today we bring you part one (above) and part two, in which Tak explains his strategy. (Text by Queena Kim and video by Tanya Jo Miller)

Tune in tomorrow  (Wednesday) to see if Tak and Andrew complete the challenge and make the wall of fame.