McDonald's Fiery Mala McSpicy Burger and the McLaosai Ring of Fire!!!

What better way to celebrate labor day than with a blogpost about something that got me feeling like I was in labor? *budum tss*

So it was a lazy day and I was pretty determined to try out McDonald's new McSpicy variant, supposedly a spicy level 4 burger, topping the original McSpicy which was a spicy level 2. I'll just make an early note that McSpicy burgers have been known to create stomach upsets in a large majority of diners. My guess would be the amount of oil involved with this burger.

 

For convenience's sake, I've made a special request for the burger to be cut in half so that I can hold on to it with one hand and snap photos with the other. Also, this makes showing the insides much easier!

Ok on to business. First up, the burger was a little small in my opinion. This was pretty strange for me, considering that I don't remember the original McSpicy being that small. Nevertheless, this pretty much has become a standard with McDonald's stuff. Single patty burgers are too small while double patty variants fill you up too much. There's no such thing as a 1.5 patty unfortunately. It's a minor thing for most, I guess. Considering you pay 7/8 bucks for the meal, which includes fries and a fizzy yuzu drink. That in all should be pretty filling but definitely too much calories.

The chicken thigh patty was pretty straightforward. A thigh fillet that's pretty tender and flowing with juice, perhaps a little to much (refer to the toilet troubles)

Taste wise, it's disappointing.

This is misleading. I've been eating Mala Hotpot and stuff for a while already (heck I work in Chinatown!) and I can tell you straight up that this is nowhere near what a Mala soup/sauce is supposed to taste like. Where is the numbing sensation from the Szechuan Peppercorns? Where is the distinct smell from the Szechuan style chilli oil?

All I tasted when I sunk my teeth into the burger, was a rush of spiciness. Yes it is indeed spicy, but it's the wrong kind of spicy. This kind of spiciness feels more what you would associate with biting into a chili padi (the really small ones). The spicy sensation pretty much goes away after 5 minutes, which is sad. Normally, a mala hotpot dinner would leave your lips burning for at least another 15 minutes after you're done eating. Why does that happen? It's most likely because of the blend of spices and chili that they use. What they did with this burger was pretty much jacking up the amount of chili onto the sauce. Boo.

I didn't like the taste, neither did I like the aftershock. Went to the loo twice that day. Honestly, I wouldn't have tried this on any normal day. Thought they were genuinely using actual mala sauces so they might've been different in any case. Too bad. I think I'll just stick to my Rou Jia Mo which only costs $2.50 at Chinatown. Woopie!