Have you ever wanted to recreate the experience of sharing a meal with someone, but you were home alone? Have you ever gotten goosebumps from hearing the sound of someone chewing and slurping their food? Have you ever wanted to watch an individual eat enough fast food for a family of five for no reason other than you were bored and wanted to see if his or her stomach burst? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I have something for you: Mukbang. 

Mukbang is a type of ASMR that consists of an individual eating large amounts of with an emphasis on the chewing sounds. The amount of food presented in these videos ranges from a normal sized meal to enough calories to sustain a person for two days. The genre of ASMR can be further divided into subcategories based on popular foods and restaurant items. Giant crab legs, noodles, KFC, mozzarella corn dogs, and hot Cheetos are popular foods for Mukbangers to eat on camera. In addition to specific food items, condiments such as cheese sauce or hot sauce are used for visual/taste appeal. Fast food is most often used for Mukbangs, but store bought products and even homemade cooking are also consumed.

The genre is prevalent enough that there are multiple parody channels, most of which criticize Mukbangers for using too much sauce, being sloppy, and eating gross foods. Production quality for Mukbang is on a wide spectrum, ranging from cameras with lighting rigs to a handheld iPhones. 

Having watched these kinds of videos for a week, I consider myself learned on the subject and capable of making my own Mukbang video. I, supervised by the rest The Sentry attempted to devour 50 Burger King chicken nuggets. Aided by BBQ sauce and a bottle of water, I managed to get through 30 nuggets within ten minutes before I hit a wall. Needless to say, I now have a newfound respect for professional Mukbangers, as they have make content constantly to stay featured by Youtube’s algorithms.