Two weeks ago, Yoshiki announced a collaboration with McDonald’s to drum up to the challenge of designing the spiciest teriyaki burger possible for McDonalds’ 30th anniversary. The limited range named Mc ni Muchaburi (マックにムチャぶり), features two different new teriyaki burgers and is available from October 23 until December 2019 at most McDonald’s across Japan.
The umakara (spicy) teriyaki burger (旨辛てりやき) is made of a chicken breast patty covered in a spicy teriyaki sauce and accompanied by a cheese cream containing garlic and jalapenos. The oyako teriyaki burger (親子てりやき) consists of fried chicken covered on the teriyaki sauce with an egg on top. We have tried it, so you don’t have to. Spoiler alert, we’re disappointed that they were actually quite nice, but not how we’d expected.
Edoh’s verdict
Starting strong, we dropped by the restaurant in Nippori for the oyako teriyaki burger. This set meal came up to 690yen, and we picked fries and chose a cold Japanese corn tea to accompany the rockstar feast.
Generally speaking, when buying a burger at a fast-food chain you’d expect the burger to be much smaller and sadder than the marketing photos. Not this one. It was tall, mighty, and seemed incredibly juicy as demonstrated by the teriyaki sauce dripping and clinging to the wrapper. But is it as moist on the inside?
Peeled back and ready for consumption. Will the burger taste as amazing as it looks?
Taking a few bites to reveal the circular egg. Not many people know this is usually found in a McMuffin because most of you wouldn’t wake up early enough to see the McDonald’s breakfast menu. The egg was overcooked so you wouldn’t get the drippy yellow yolk you’d see in the foodporn videos. But the main event was the chicken itself. It beautifully tender, the outer had a slight crunch although the delicious sauce drenches and envelopes the entire piece of poultry and not wet like the McChicken Sandwich. But was it spicy though?
Sure the containing garlic and jalapenos cream cheese had a bite to it, but it tasted like mustard mayonnaise. Team “no spicy please” will rejoice as this burger is actually very mild, to my palate. For comparison’s sake, this heat level rates a 2/10 next to KFC hot wings.
Would we eat this again? Yes, over the standard Big Mac or McChicken Sandwich. It comes second to premium Signature Collection they had in the UK, as I remember this well for the modest “gourmet burger” experience. Yoshiki’s attempt did alright compared to this, but it could have been spicer.
Oyako rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5
Mazo’s verdict
The oyako burger is fucking sweet. It’s an unusual combination for my American palate. However, it was definitely the stronger of the two. It’s an interesting mix of flavors and textures. The slight crunch of the chicken patty, the springy egg, and the thick sweet teriyaki. The buns are the signature McDonald’s buns and in my opinions, they have a unique McDonald’s flavor that is not something I actively seek out. So the bottom line is the decidedly McDonald’s bun and exaggeratedly sticky teriyaki are the downsides to this burger. I think a homemade version or even a “gourmet” version would be astonishingly good.
The spicy teriyaki was overall just average. It wasn’t excessively good or bad. It had the same weaknesses as the oyako burger with the lack of chicken and the addition of spice. The spice feels like an afterthought and I really didn’t love this burger. It’s fine though. Would I order either burger again, well yeah, for the meme value? Not really for the taste though. Though I would recommend a DIY version if you have access to some if not all of the ingredients.
Oyako rating: ★★★☆☆ 3/5
Spicy teriyaki rating: ★★☆☆☆ 2/5
More info:
Yoshiki Official Website
X Japan Official Website
Yoshiki Foundation America
Yoshikimono
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