West meets East

Something pleasantly surprising popped in McDonald's stores today. Shaker fries, my favorite fry-variant - hands down, has made its way to Hong Kong.

I can still remember way back in Manila when Shaker fries were launched. Erwin, Arnie and I would order one each, take a different flavor packet each, and shake, shake, shake away. Of course, whoever got the barbecue flavor sprinkle would be the loser, since everyone would attack that stash more often. Ergo, his or her stash would disappear first.

This concept of shake-flavored fries started with Potato Corner. What started as a small stall positioned in schools ballooned into a big enterprise and a few months after, there was a cart everywhere you looked. Just like Gonuts Donuts, Zagu and Nene's Barbecue, you'd find long queues for Potato Corner fries, but no one really cared. What's important was to get their hands on the hot and crispy fries dusted with sour cream, barbecue or cheese flavor.

I should know, I was one of them.

The concept of self-shook fries at McDonald's - in my opinion - wasn't too well accepted. After the limited run of Shaker Fries, it never came back. As opposed to Twister Fries, a product that made a comeback so many times, Shaker Fries up and disappeared. I guess no one cared too much for it, or at least not as much as I did.

Needless to say, my heart skip a beat when I saw that Shaker Fries was making a comeback - at least in Hong Kong. This lunchtime, I rushed to McDonald's to get my fill of my favorite. Walking to the counter, I was already trying to decide whether to get the Cheese, Barbecue or Sour Cream flavor powder. Sour Cream would be the best choice, but i haven't had barbecue since I turned vegetarian -- ergo, barbecue flavored fries would be a nice in-between.

Upon reaching the order area, I was treated to a wake-up call that screamed: YOU'RE IN HONG KONG! Instead of Cheese, Barbecue or Sour Cream, the flavor choices were things only chinese-asians would love. It was Seaweed, Kimchi or Garlic.

Kimchi Fries? Seaweed Fries? WTF?!?I couldn't get myself to try the first 2 flavors, so I settled for Garlic. It wasn't that bad, although it was a bit disappointing. Nothing comes close to sour cream fries in my book. I swear, this can only happen in Hong Kong or China, or maybe even Korea considering that's where Kimchi comes from.

Ah, the perils of west meeting east.