What Was Burger King Thinking When They Released This Bizarre New Burger?

by DailyHealthPost Editorial

bizarre black burger

Cool. Burgers gone metal. Rock it out. Japanese fast-food customers will be getting a new visual experience with Burger King’s new Kuro Pearl and Diamond burgers to add to their daily “black burger” menu item.

The buns and cheese contain bamboo charcoal, the patties are loaded with black pepper, and the sauce is made with squid ink. The result is a sight as well as a taste sensation.

It’s not morbid but pretty wild to look at.

black burger

Bamboo is regularly eaten in Japan as a source of carbohydrate, protein, fat, and vitamin B. The charcoal doesn’t lose all of that nutrition or its antifungal and antibacterial properties.

These, in addition to vital minerals, adds not just color but nutrition and fiber (those pandas are on to something). Bamboo charcoal is also used as a skin cleanser but you probably wouldn’t want to rub the cheese on your face.

Squid ink is used primarily as coloring but contains protein and a delicate briny flavor (not sure that sounds particularly appetizing with a hamburger).

The Kuro Diamond Burger isn’t all black, which would give it that “Harold and Maude” feel. The vegetable toppings on this deluxe version haven’t been colored so the tomatoes are red, the onions white, and the lettuce green. Offsets the black nicely.

The Japanese are intrepid diners.

The new black burgers (what’s next, orange?) come in addition to the Meat Monster that was added to the Burger King menu in 2011. This sandwich would require you to unhinge your jaw to take a whole bite; it’s a cheeseburger with bacon, chicken breast, and a hamburger atop. Heart disease in a sandwich. Yum.

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Burger King isn’t the only fast-food chain that attempts to appeal to its patrons’ sophisticated tastes; Wendy’s in Japan offers a Foie Gras Burger with truffles (the mushrooms, not the chocolate) for those who want a classier meal.

There’s a Party in My Mouth

Not to be outdone, McDonald’s offers its Japanese fans the Bacon Potato Pie: a pie crust (like their dessert pies) stuffed with bacon and mashed potatoes, fried to golden perfection.

McD’s has its own Black Diamond burger that it sells in Japan–theirs contains regularly-colored cheese but the sauce includes black truffles mixed with egg yolk. The Golden Arches aren’t afraid of novelty in foreign markets; one wonders why they don’t bring the fun home. Might help boost shares, as sales have dropped significantly five times in the last two years.

It seems all the big fast food restaurants have jumped on the weird and wild bandwagon: Lotteria (a Korean fast food corporation with franchises in Japan) offered a grilled chicken burger with chocolate sauce and honey mustard this past February. Sweetened the deal for Valentine’s Day.

Makes a plain old Whopper seem so…plain. Not that we would ever eat one.

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