What Makes McDonald's Shaka Shaka Chicken So Unique

Look past the Big Macs and Happy Meals and you will find a whole world of McDonald's food you may or may not have remembered. You may not have even heard of these items at all. For example, you may recall the popcorn chicken-esque McBites or the Signature Crafted burgers, the chain's brief attempt to appeal to those seeking an "artisan" fast food experience (via Nation's Restaurant News). 

Older readers may remember when George Costan — er, Jason Alexander sung the praises of the McDLT or the odd McPizza affair back in the '80s. And that's just scraping the surface of what the Golden Arches has offered over the years! Across the world, McDonald's serves food that you'd never expect to see here in the United States. From poutine in Canada to rice and beans in Costa Rica, McDonald's menu items range from the outrageous (at least to us) to the surprisingly delicious. 

In Japan, McDonald's offers what is known as "Shaka Shaka Chicken." Now, chicken at McDonald's isn't something entirely new or even that surprising. But it's what you have to do with the chicken that makes this Eastern menu item stand out from your everyday McChicken.

Readers familiar with Shake 'N Bake may not have expected to have to do the same process at McDonalds. According to ChewBoom, Shaka Shaka Chicken is a fried chicken filet served in a paper pouch at Japanese McDonald's locations. It is in this pouch that you have to dump a packet of flavored seasoning alongside the chicken and, as the name implies, vigorously shake the bag until the chicken is covered in seasoning. The perforated bag also has the benefit of keeping your fingers from getting covered in that same seasoning.

Brand Eating gave a little more insight to the chicken claiming that while the chicken was decent, the seasoning didn't stick as well as they hoped. The review also claimed there are three — now four, as of this writing — flavors you can choose from: pepper, cheddar cheese, lemon, and the recently introduced American BBQ.

For those who want to see this combination of vigorous activity and fast food here in the US, you may be surprised to learn that another company tried to market a similar product. Back in 2002, Burger King tried to market "Shake 'Em Up Fries" to the public (via Business Insider). The gimmick was that you were supposed to dump a packet of cheese powder into the bag of fries, and shake them up until they were covered. Oddly enough, the fries didn't take off.