McDonald's Pork Tatsuta (product information)

Image from McDonald's Japan

I'm not sure how aware people outside of Japan are of the "chicken tatsuta" which is seasonally available in Japan, but it became so familiar to me that I took it for granted that "everyone" would know what it was. This is akin to my assuming everyone knows what Cap'n Crunch cereal is and how it is regarded and will get jokes about it chewing up the roof of your mouth (and being the most awesome of sugar cereals in the universe).

For those who don't know, this is a common, but inconsistent offering at McDonald's Japan that usually includes a formed chicken patty (formed from what sort of chicken parts, I'm not sure) that is cooked with ginger and served with a special sauce and cabbage. Currently, a special version of the chicken tatsuta has a sauce that includes yuzu (Japanese citron) and daikon (Japanese radish), though regular version of this sandwich just includes some less exotically augmented mayonnaise with ginger and soy sauce.

McDonald's Japan released a variation on this burger on May 31 with pork kicking the venerable chicken version off the bun. The pork version uses an onion ginger sauce and will set you back 506 calories. That's a bit weightier than the 389 for the regular chicken tatsuta and 417 for the special new limited edition version. Most of that is coming from the whopping 33.4 grams of fat in the piggy version (17.4 grams are in the special chicken version). I'm betting it's plenty juicy and tasty, but not necessarily any healthier than a Big Mac which has 30.7 grams of fat and 557 calories. Still, no one is hitting the golden arches because they think it's health food. Eat, drink, and make merry with your fries, for tomorrow, you can diet.