Fast food partners team up for moon-viewing mix of Japanese and American flavors.

Japan is all about seasonal foods, and autumn is the season for eating eggs. This isn’t because Japan’s chickens lay a greater number or higher quality of eggs in the fall, though. It’s because of the moon.

See, in Japan, there’s a centuries-old tradition of gathering to have moon-viewing parties on the nights of the full moon in September and October. The Japanese word for moon-viewing is tsukimi, but tsukimi is also used to describe a way of eating noodles in which you crack open a raw egg to cook in the hot broth, since the initial round, golden yolk resembles a full moon.

In recent years, the tsukimi designation has been stretched to apply to hamburgers and other bun-based sandwiches that include a fried egg, with many fast food chains rolling out special limited-time tsukimi burgers in early fall. This year, it’s partners First Kitchen and Wendy’s Japan who’re the first to grab our attention with tsukimi burger announcements, with each of them bringing out two different kinds.

First Kitchen has an especially unique concept for its tsukimi burgers, as in addition to a fried egg they also contain a round mochi rice cake (according to Japanese folklore, there are rabbits who live on the moon and make mochi there). This year, they’re whipping up a Tsukimi Mocchi Teriyaki Ginger Burger (890 yen [US$6]), pictured above, which utilizes a wide variety of Japanese seasonings, with bonito and kombu dashi for the mochi and Hatcho miso, a premium dark miso variety with strong flavors but reduced sweetness, mixed in with the teriyaki sauce.

Alternatively, First Kitchen is also offering a Tsukimi Mocchi Teriyaki Ginger Chicken Tatsumi Burger (790 yen) with a crisp fried chicken fillet instead of a hamburger patty.

▼ Slightly different from karaage (Japan’s other style of fried chicken) with tatsuta the chicken’s breading is made with potato starch.

As mentioned above, First Kitchen and Wendy’s have an alliance in Japan, with many branches being joint operations that serve both menus. Sort of like Wendy’s Japan itself, its tsukimi burgers are a mix of Japanese and American culinary influences.

Wendy’s calls them the Tsukimi B.B.P. Burgers, with the acronym standing for “barbecue, bacon, and potato.” Each of them comes with a fried egg, bourbon barbecue sauce, bacon strips, and, for the potato quotient, hash browns. They also have cheese, so you could make the argent that these actually aren’t just Tsukimi B.B.P. burgers, but really Tsukimi B.B.P.C. burgers.

Seen above is the beef-patty Tsukimi B.B.P. Burger (990 yen), and there’s also a Tsukimi B.B.P. Chicken Filet Burger (890 yen).

Finally, if your taste buds are saying “Yes! Give us that!!!”, but your stomach is saying “Um, guys, I don’t know if I have room for all that…”, Wendy’s is also offering a Jr. Tsukimi B.B.P. Burger (720 yen).

▼ The smaller size is also handy for if the chicken tsukimi is your number-one choice, but you also want the beef version yet can’t quit eat two full-size sandwiches in one sitting.

All these tsukimi sandwiches go on sale September 5, and are schedule to be on First Kitchen/Wendy’s menus until late October.

Source, images: PR Times (1, 2)
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