I have been somewhat remiss in my pursuit of Japanese fast food culture over the past couple of weeks... An imploding laptop, STEEMLORDS and getting sidetracked with other posting projects have kept me busy. But my love for all things Japanese remains undiminished and my fascination with the wonderful but whacky way this is expressed in the average Japanese McDonalds keeps me coming back for more...
McDonald's is quite the phenomena in Japan, and its popularity doesn't look like waning anytime soon! Early in 2017 there were around 3,600 outlets nation wide, however, by 2020 it is expected there will be around 10,000 McDonald's, according to compathy.net magazine. Source
While McDonalds' were quite expensive in the past, in comparison to comparable Japanese cuisine they have adjusted their pricing (notwithstanding their Premium Range, which we will investigate another day) and have included for some time now a 'Value Range' of menu items all priced at around the 200 yen each.
Now, the best (or worst), part of these burgers for foreigners trying to order a burger in Japan, will be the mangling of the names! The 'chiki-chee burger', is actually a chicken cheeseburger'. Now we don't have this in Australia, so I can't speak to the content, but if I had to guess I'd go with a chicken patty with cheese on a bun possibly a pickle and sauce of some description!
Then we have the infamous 'eggu-chee burger'! This I believe is a cheeseburger, which we do have in Australia, with the addition of the humble fried egg... Then we get into some uncharted territory with the 'babepo burger'... Sorry, all bets are off here, I understand this is a barbecue pork burger, but beyond this, I know absolutely nothing, so it will definitely be a surprise!
Still remaining consistent with the lower price range introduced by McDonalds' Japan, it just could not resist getting into the fried chicken market that is humungous and therefore irresistible... So with a two for the price of one type approach, McDonald's developed 'shaka shaka chicken'... Intended to be a snack or small meal the moist piece of breaded chicken is provided in a bag along with a choice of three seasonings, cheese, lemon or pepper, which the customer adds and, well shakes!
Perhaps it's because Australia is comparatively such a young nation, and we are so multiculturally diverse, that we have very few long held or widely dominant socio cultural traditions. In comparison, Europe and Asia have traditions and practices that have been in place for aeons... Unbelievably, this is reflected even in the delivery of fast food! The importance of the weather, seasons, local produce, the harvest all impact regional fast food menus in the 21st century...it's fascinating!
For example, available only in autumn is 'The Full Moon Cheese Tsukimi Burger'! This entirely white and pale yellow burger was inspired by tsukimi, the harvest moon festival. The Cheese Tsukimi Burger’s main ingredients, other than the beef patty, are cheese and a fried egg, the latter of which is said to represent the full moon of the harvest.
Having given due consideration to Autumn, in Japan it really is all about Spring! Cherry blossom season is 'The Season', and everything sakura and pink (the colour of the cherry blossoms) is fair game and will be exploited within an inch of its life. And absolutely everyone is fine with that, including me...
So of course there are multiple menu items at Maccas that are focussed on Spring, and more specifically Sakura and the cherry blossoms, and I've mentioned at least one of them before but the list is broad ranging and quite tantalising. The Sakura fries have been a huge hit for McDonald's Japan and they trot it out annually to satisfy the taste buds of locals and tourists alike.
Moving from a seasonal to a regional focus, never let it be said that McDonald's Japan did not do their research...finding out what was famously produced in various regions of Japan, they set about finding out how to go about incorporating that in the McDonald's Japan menu. And again something I'm quietly confident we don't have in Australia is a 'Mc Sweets' division of McDonald's... that apparently deals entirely with desserts (more's the pity!)...
Now, when McDonald's figure out they're on a winner they like to diversify and so once the milk pie takes off, they diversify and before you know it there making the milk pies in chocolate and strawberry too...
Having reached dessert, it's time to pay for (well attempt to pay) for our order and move on for before the next instalment of unbelievable fast food in McDonald's Tokyo!
To be continued...
