What the hell has McDonald's China done now?

"Drunk food with Chinese characteristics': we try the new Menu at McDonald's so you don't have to"
First published on 6 Oct 2015. Updated on 6 Oct 2015.

McDonald's is getting weird again. Really weird. A couple of years ago, culinary explorations into brave new (barely edible) territories were the norm for McDonald's. There was the 'Bacon Mashed Potato Double Beef Burger'(as gross as it sounds) and, more recently, the grey ice cream – which was actually pretty damn good.

Now is the turn of the 'Modern China Burger', a fusion of East and West that will once and for all transcend cultural and culinary boundaries. Or maybe, just maybe, it's just another vaguely offensive attempt to attract a new class of Chinese fast-food goers.

The new seasonal menu at McDonald's also features a curious new nugget, which we guess is similarly aimed at the would-be 'Modern China Burger' eaters. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the 'Fish-Tofu-Veggie Nuggets'. Barf.

Just an idiot with a plan, a plan to eat some weird burgers...

Like the intrepid investigative lifestyle journalists that we are, we couldn't resist the urge to go out and try for ourselves. Like a car crash you can't peel your eyes away from, this culinary Hindenburg was too good to ignore.

I'll have a weird burger, some horrible-sounding nuggets and a serious rethink of my career choices to go, please.

Editor Lee Williamson and Food and Drink Editor Nick Gollner walked across the street from Time Out Towers and bought each of the above mentioned 'dishes'. They then retired to their desks to sample the food and talk about it on WeChat, like the total nerdlingers that they are. The following is a transcript of that WeChat conversation:

LW Okay, so what is this bad boy?

NG Is that cheese? No, I guess it's some kind of ‘Modern Chinese’ special sauce?

LW Yeah, but seriously, what the hell is this? I've never dreaded McDonald's so much in my life.

The Modern China Burger, with some not-so-subtle product placement for Time Out's new merch in the background. We love the merch. Cut us and we bleed merch.

LW [Opens packaging] Oh f**king holy God.

NG So Sichuan pepper ketchup is a thing, I could be into that.

The advertising.

NG Wow, I have never been so grateful for the numbing properties of ma in my life.

LW [Takes first bite] Oh yeah, that peppercorn hits you. Not bad.

LW This is why I don't do food blogs. Man, just roll me out when there's aluxury car to be driven at the Ritz, can you?

LW So this is being dubbed the 'Modern China Burger'?

LW It's pork and bacon, right? So pork on pork. That's pretty Chinese, I guess.

NG Double the pork, double the happiness.

LW True. I heard that China consumes half of the world's pork. I guess with monstrosities like this, it's easy to see how.

NG Except this pork tastes more like a cheap breakfast sausage than any Chinese roast pork I’ve ever been happy to encounter.

NG I think I would prefer it if the mantou bun were replaced with two more pork patties.

LW Hmm, yeah. What's the deal with the bread? It's mantou? I get that:mantou + burger = 'Chinese'. But why the hell is it grey? Surely grey is the last colour you want your food to be?

NG Well it isn't active charcoal, that's for sure. I think it's black sesame.

NG If you're bothering to add black sesame to my mantou, at least go all the way – you can't taste it at all. Maybe they meant the 'Modern Beijing Burger'?

LW Fluffy grey buns to represent clouds of pollution?

NG Nothing stimulates my appetite like respiratory failure.

LW Indeed. Oh, it's black sesame? That makes sense.

Editor Lee Williamson digging the Modern China Burger.

LW The worst thing? I actually quite like this burger. I can totally imagine ordering this weekend a few pints in. It's dangerous.

NG It’s frightening... I actually agree.

NG If you know what you’re getting into, and I expect you do if you've just walked into McDonald's, you could do a lot worse. I actually like the sauce and the pork patty combo.

LW I really wanted to hate it and disparage it for jokes, but I find it surprisingly palatable – kinda like Coldplay.

NG The Coldplay of burgers.

LW Yeah. The Chinese fast food Coldplay – I wanna hate it but it's too lovable. I'm into it.

NG I was going to say more like the Justin Bieber or Chinese fast food. So much fun to hate, and really a soulless and offensive bastard deep down, but in my car, alone, and utterly unwatched, you know I’m really enjoying it.

LW Massive lolz.

LW The bun kinda gets stuck in your teeth.

NG Yea, you would think that the mantou would actually be the best part, this being the land of steamed bread, but alas, way too sticky and not nearly salted enough.

NG Also the shredded lettuce, Sichuan-Thousand Island dressing mess just shoots out all over your desk – not a pretty picture.

LW I love how you're actually giving a thoughtful critique to a f**king Maccas horrorshow grease monger. Let's call it what it is: drunk food with Chinese characteristics.

LW Love that sauce. Really hate leaning on this cliché, but it's like Ronald [McDonald] shifu took Thousand Island Sauce and turned it up to 11.

The packaging is innocent enough, but it can't hide the Pandora's Box of worms that lies within.

check more about it on:http://www.timeoutbeijing.com/features/Blogs-Food_Blogs/146149/What-the-hell-has-McDonalds-China-done-now-.html



Comentário do grupo:

Os chineses têm uma relação diferente dos ocidentais com as cores, já que são uma cultura especialmente supersticiosa e vêm significados maiores em elementos que não damos tanta importância no Ocidente, como os sons, cores, números, palavras.

Segundo Hofstede em sua Teoria das dimensões Culturais, a diferença de culturas se baseia no fato de que culturas nacionais têm como elemento central os valores, adquiridos na infância e passados por membros da família, da escola ou da comunidade na qual se vive.

Com base na filosofia chinesa taoísta – que aborda o feng shui e outras tradições da China -, tudo tem origem nos 5 elementos: água, fogo, madeira, metal e terra. Isso inclui o simbolismo das cores que correspondem, respectivamente, ao preto, vermelho, azul e verde misturados, branco e amarelo, de acordo com a ordem dos elementos anteriormente citados. Para o povo chinês, a cor alimenta o espírito e expressa a profundidade da experiência humana.

A cor prata, por exemplo, é cor dos metais que nos remete à riqueza, renda, confiabilidade e modernidade. Baseando-se nisso, o McDonald’s da China decide ousar e lançar o hambúrguer com toque de modernidade: o “Modern China Burguer”.

A gigante global McDonald’s decidiu usar uma estratégia de adaptação local, focando seu produto em algo que os chineses apreciam muito: o futuro, a modernidade.
O hambúrguer, que foi lançado como edição limitada, sendo comercializado até o dia 3 de Novembro, deu muito o que falar. Sua aparência em nada nos lembra a modernidade, mas sim algo velho e com prazo de validade vencido. Porém, ao contrário de seu visual, o gosto pareceu agradar àqueles que o experimentaram. Não podemos negar: essa cor inusitada atraiu clientes curiosos.

Além da cor do pão, o Mcdonald’s investiu em outro “queridinho” dos chineses: a carne de porco. “A carne preferida na China é a de porco, que responde por quase três quartos do consumo. Metade dos porcos do mundo, ou 476 milhões deles, vive no país. O consumo de carne é tão crucial na dieta chinesa que em 2007 o governo, esperando se proteger contra altas de preços, criou uma reserva estratégica (embora pequena), para acompanhar as reservas mais típicas, como as de grãos e petróleo.” (José Eduardo Mendonça, Revista Planeta Sustentável, 2012). O Hambúrguer é feito de duas camadas de carne de porco, mais bacon (que também vem do porco), salada e molho apimentado Sichuan. O pão é feito da mesma maneira que os pães ao vapor, populares no norte da China.