So the latest in a long line of Japan’s zany appropriations of Western food seems to be the Choco & Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Burger by burger chain Lotteria due for release on the 6th of February, 2014 just in time for Valentines day.

After the success of their recent chocolate dipping sauce french fries, the progressive burger giant decided to go all out and combine chocolate, honey mustard, grilled chicken and lettuce into the one intruiging meal option. But seemingly odd Western flavour and foodtype combinations aren’t anything new in Japan, who are responsible for such odd creations as the shrimp and mayonnaise potato chip; clam chowder potato chip; the omelette, bacon and ketchup onigiri (riceballs); pizza with shitake, seaweed and raw egg; creamed corn soup flavoured icecream; wasabi KitKat; eel-flavoured soda and so many more…

Aside from chocolate dipping chips and bacon cube burgers at Lotteria, there are a number of other strange burger options in the land of the rising sun. At Japanese MacDonald’s the shrimp fillet burger and teriyaki chicken burger are both permanently on the menu. At BK items like french toast sticks and Spam and cheese burgers are common. And at Japan’s own MosBurger, you can currently purchase rice burgers where the traditional bread bun has been replaced with a sticky fried rice patty and the fillings are things like grilled mackarell; pork sausage; mushrooms, daikon radish and seaweed; or some sort of fried seafood patty.

I’d love to finish this article with some sort of joke about how those zany Japanese food scientists are so out there that will probably come up with some kind of Frankenstein-ish concept like bacon, maple syrup, peanut butter, banana and pancakes…but the Americans actually beat them to that particular gastronomical creation years ago.

Matt Derody

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