Within China, there's an age-old argument over which province has the spiciest food. There's an old saying that "Guizhou people like spiciness, Sichuan people don't fear spiciness, and Hunan people fear there is no spiciness."

Fu Niu Tang, a recently opened beef noodle restaurant in Beijing, is trying to take the spicy crown for Hunan. It claims to have the world's spiciest rice noodles and is challenging patrons to finish a bowl of the signature dish in 10 minutes. Those who can finish the task are awarded with...