Have you ever travelled overseas, and walked into a location of your favourite Fast Food joint expecting the menu you’re used to at home? Bet you got a big surprise. Some Fast Food menu items are faves around the world. But many more are engineered to suit local tastes and use traditional ingredients…
The KFC Shawarma Rice Bowl: Bring this one to North America – even if only ‘for a limited time’!
I’ll also bet you wouldn’t have guessed what the top sellers at your local Fast Food brand abroad are. BuzzFeed cared enough to compile a list of the most exotic Fast Food items from the world beyond North America and Europe…
On our menu today
Shawarma Rice Bowl: KFC Philippines. Yes, it’s Chicken Shawarma, sourced from chopped KFC Tenders, spiced up a little and served over steamed rice, topped with a drizzle of yogurt and a hard boiled egg on the side. A whole meal in a bowl! And a Filipino fravourite.
Cheezy Broccoli Baked Potato: Wendy’s Indonesia. It’s a baked spud smothered with lots of melted Cheddar (or some other orange-coloured cheese, perhaps), and topped with a generous handful of steamed broccoli florets. That’ll fill you up! And it’s nutrition-dense…
Ebi Filet-O: McDonald’s Japan. A tempura-battered shrimp patty topped with Thousand Island Dressing and lettuce, on a Burger bun. The top seller at McDonald’s Japan, year in and year out. And just in case you’re wondering, ‘Ebi’ is the Japanese word for ‘shrimp’.
Chick ‘N Fried Roll: KFC India. A big Chicken roll – more like a burrito made with a massive fried Roti – stuffed with two Chicken Filets, veggies and hot sauce. As the photo shows, it’s a big bite and a great deal, for just 99 rupees / (US)$1.29!
Doritos Pizza: Pizza Hut Pakistan. Doritos from start to f9inish: on the crust and on top of the pie, with the usual fillings in between. Larger than the usual Hut pie, it’s 14 in. / 35 cm across, and the sauce is spicy.
Peppery Paneer Pizza: Domino’s India. Paneer is, of course, the fresh cheese (queso, cottage cheese) of India, made from cow’s or buffalo’s milk. The pie uses Paneer as the melty base for diced sweet and hot peppers, and tops the whole pie with cubes of fried Paneer, a universally popular Indian treat.
The official website calls this dish a vegetarian’s delight – which tells me that Indian vegetarians are primarily ‘lacto’…
Pork And Seaweed Doughnut: Dunkin’s China. Described as a savory doughnut stuffed with seaweed and topped with shredded pork (see photo, top of page). We can only imagine what it tastes like. No sweet side to counter the savoury at all, apparently. But it’s an undeniable hit in Asia.
That’s just a sample..
… Of the weird and wonderful regional specialties that have earned a home on the permanent menus of overseas interations of our fave familiar Fast Food chains. Which ones would you like to see brought ‘home’, to the west?
~ Maggie J.