Mukbang, muk-bang or meokbang is a live online audiovisual broadcast in which a host eats food while interacting with their audience. Done through a webcast, mukbang became popular in South Korea in 2010. Foods ranging from pizza to noodles are consumed in front of a camera for an online audience. The trend has picked up tremendously over the years with Korean YouTubers making a carrier out of eating on camera, with some even earning an average RM40,000 a month. Following the footsteps of popular Mukbang stars, local YouTuber, Osman Nur Muhammad Izzat is creating his own waves in the food eating trend.
If you have watched IsaacOsmanTV on YouTube you may recognise the locally produced video with Osman eating large quantity of burgers, cup ramen , maggi goreng and many other Malaysian favourites. Regarded as the only Mukbang video site in Malaysia, Osman once consumed 10 burgers at once, drawing millions of viewers on his site. The YouTuber has more than 300,000 followers and is known to spend hundreds of ringgit to buy food or drinks that can add up to between 2,500 to 4,500 calories. “Every week I will produce at least three videos for the review of the food by eating food in large quantity, the first one I made in August last year by eating 10 cups of spicy ramen that garnered many comments from young audience at the time. ” Soon after people were referring to my site as Mukbang Malaysia, “he told Bernama here recently.
Aged 31 years and working as a booth designer, Osman said he enjoys running, jogging, hiking and cycling, eating a lot is okay with him, because after sports, he is always hungry and eats a lot. “So eating in large quantities is not an issue for me and making this habit into videos is cool, “he said. Although he eats these food in large quantities, health is his top priority. He often gets involved in active sports to burn those calories, “For example, I will play sports at night and continue to ride a bike daily to the office which is 18 kilometers and carry out regular health screenings and Alhamdulillah so far I’m still healthy.”
Before producing the video, a day before he attempts his feat Osman does not eat heavy and will make it a point to workout after. Initially, both his friends and his family were surprised on his eating ability who eventually suggested for him to make videos, which resulted in the Mukbang channel. Unlike Matt Stonie who is an YouTube sensation popular for his food foray, Osman does not view himself as just making videos on Mukbang, “If you see my videos its not all about consuming food, there is also dining and other normal stuff like sports and other various activities”. He has produced over 500 video available on the social network platform and has even gone to South Korea, Indonesia and other neighboring countries to record a video.
The young man from Grik, Perak is currently hot on the trail and is top in the list for food reviews. Restaurants are making a beeline to invite him to their premise to shoot his Mukbang video’s, however he his cautious on the type of content he posts on his platform, choosing to pick the invites carefully.
