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The Big American Burger



Nick is working in Japan again this year for 6 months and yesterday he sent us photos of a stop at McDonald's where he ordered the "Idaho Burger". 
 

McDonald's has launched a campaign in Japan the past few years featuring "Big American" burgers that are suppose to evoke the places they are named after. This year they are featuring the 'All Stars' edition bringing back the most popular items from the last 3 years. Luckily for us in the States, we will not be offered these concoctions since McDonald's is actually trying to offer more healthful choices in the face of our obesity epidemic. But for healthy-minded countries such as Japan, McDonald's have found that they are willing to gorge as long as it tastes good. Sound familiar? The Japanese aren't that different from us after all! The first release of the Big American burgers was in 2010 with each burger topped with garnishes that were regional - at least regional enough for the Japanese. Here are the lineups:

2010
The Texas Burger - a two-layer burger with a Big Mac-style middle bun separating the bottom layer composed of a beef patty, mustard-relish and American cheese from a top layer of barbecue sauce, bacon and crispy fried onions.

The New York Burger - beef patty topped Monterrey Jack cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce and mustard sauce.

The California Burger - a beef patty topped with spicy cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce and red wine sauce.

The Hawaiian Burger - a beef patty topped with an Egg McMuffin-style fried egg and gravy, which all tops bacon strips on a bed of chopped lettuce and American cheese.

2011
The Idaho Burger - a beef patty topped with onions, bacon, whole-grain mustard sauce and a hash brown potato patty, all topped with American cheese and pepper sauce.

The Miami Burger - a beef patty topped with American cheese, shredded lettuce, tortilla chips, and a pile of taco-seasoned ground beef, which all tops spicy chili sauce.

The Manhattan Burger - a beef patty topped with a slice of mozzarella cheese, a slice of deli pastrami, lettuce, sour cream sauce and onions.

The Texas 2 Burger - a two-layer burger with a Big Mac-style middle bun separating the bottom layer composed of a beef patty, mustard-relish and American cheese from a top layer of bacon, onions, grated cheese and chili beans.

2012
The Las Vegas Burger - a beef patty topped with a sautéed salsa of sliced beef and onions, which all tops lettuce, cream cheese sauce and American cheese.

The Grand Canyon Burger - a two-layer burger with a Big Mac-style middle bun separating the bottom layer composed of a beef patty with steak filling, mozzarella cheese and steak sauce from a top layer of an Egg McMuffin-style fried egg, cheddar cheese and crispy onions.

The Broadway Burger - a beef patty topped with a mix of fresh vegetables, pastrami bacon, mustard sauce and cream cheese sauce, which all tops mozzarella cheese.

The Beverly Kills Burger - a beef patty topped with an Egg McMuffin-style fried egg, lettuce, onions, avocado sauce, American cheese and bacon, which all tops Caesar salad sauce.

These burgers are still not that large by American standards. Nick said the Idaho burger "only" came in around 700 calories and he had to order a large size combo to get to the American medium size fries and drink.



McDonald's - I'm Lovin' It... even in Japan. 





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