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McDonald’s Japan’s new winter menu exclusives: Hot pies and special chicken nuggets

Oona McGee Jan 16, 2022
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Canadian Maple Custard Pie is just the start of this limited-time flavour celebration.

One of the top sellers at McDonald’s in Japan during the colder months is its hot pies. This winter, there’s more than just apple to choose from on the menu, as the chain is also giving us a taste of Canada and Belgium, with the Canadian Maple Custard Pie and the Belgian Chocola Pie.

▼ The Belgian pie (right) has been appearing for a limited time in winter since 2020, but this is the first time for it to step out with a Canadian companion.

We headed out to try the new desserts when they were released yesterday, and picked up a cheeky serving of their new limited-edition chicken nuggets as well. So let’s get straight to the tasting, starting with the Canadian Maple Custard Pie.

As the name suggests, this is a custard pie that contains Canadian maple syrup, which is enough information to set our mouths watering immediately. Upon opening it in two, however, we were able to really appreciate the true beauty of the pie, with its generous slathering of maple syrup glistening enticingly in the light

The ratio of syrup to custard was much higher than expected, but when we bit into it, it turned out to be perfectly aligned with the entire pie, which had a slight saltiness in the pastry. The casing was beautifully crispy, and the vanilla custard filling was deliciously moreish. However, we have to say, this was a very sweet pie. While it might be too sweet for some, we can imagine it would send sweet-tooths straight to sweet heaven.

▼ Next up, time to try the Belgian Chocola.

Whereas the maple custard pie was super sweet, this one was super rich. Again the crispy pie pastry was fantastic, and the chunky chocolate filling here was faultless. This was an incredibly delicious pie, and we can totally understand why it makes its return to the menu as a decadent winter sweet year after year.

After polishing off the two pies, we reached for our box of nuggs that had been patiently waiting in the wings. These new Peppercorn Garlic Spicy Chicken McNuggets are said to be the first new nuggets to be released by the golden arches in Japan for three and a half years!

Opening our box of nuggets revealed them to be coated in a nicely seasoned batter. Popping one into our mouth, we were surprised to find that this crunchy, fried coating was so well seasoned with black pepper that it immediately awakened our taste buds, even without any dipping sauce.

The taste of black pepper was clearly pronounced, and utterly delicious. Adding a dollop of the included Garlic Soy Sauce Mayonnaise only made each morsel even more tasty, creating a smooth creaminess and garlic hit in every bite.

▼ The garlic hit was just right, so as to not overpower the peppery profile.

The spicy nuggets were actually a great way to finish off this feast of winter flavours, as the spices helped to cleanse the palate from the creamy sweetness of the pies.

All these winter items will be on the menu for a limited time until early February, with the pies priced at 150 yen (US$1.32) each and the spicy chicken nuggets priced at 200 yen.

Hopefully the treats will go some way towards sweetening the deal for McDonald’s customers in Japan, who are currently dealing with the temporary loss of hash browns and medium and large-sized fries.

Photos © SoraNews24
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