Two food items sold in the Philippines have piqued the interest of American media, with the popular website Huffington Post reporting on the latest KFC Philippines product and a Pinoy twist on a Japanese food staple.
“Every now and then we drop in on the web sites of our favorite overseas fast food chains, and today's perusal of KFC Philippines yielded one of our favorite discoveries yet: KFC Mac & Cheese Bites,” the website wrote.
The fast-food chain launched KFC Mac & Cheese Bites last month with the tagline, “Bite the boredom, unleash the fun.” The snack consists of five “bite-sized treats with a crunchy outside and a delicious center filled with soft macaroni and creamy cheese.”
The website said it scoured the Internet for blog reports on the new KFC product and found mixed reactions to KFC Mac & Cheese Bites.
“All in all, it sounds like Mac & Cheese Bites aren't exactly our wildest macaroni dreams come true, but come on -- deep-fried cheese balls can't be all bad. Bring 'em stateside, KFC!” The Huffington Post said.
The website’s readers were also divided by the idea of deep-fried macaroni and cheese.
“Whoever comes up with these new products must really hate mankind and their arteries. Their heart attacks ready to happen,” wrote “HuffPost super user” jgamble 28.
“Ahhh, I might have to take a vacation to the Philippines soon,” commented Anonymous Conservative.
Bacon-wrapped sushi
Apart from KFC Mac & Cheese Bites, The Hufftington Post also took notice of an entry in the Philippine blog, pepper.ph, about bacon-wrapped sushi.
“This faux ‘Japanese’ dish will change the way you eat authentic sushi…forever! Replacing the thin Nori wrapper with fatty strips of bacon does violate the sushi law, but who the heck cares?” wrote blogger Mikka Wee on pepper.ph, which calls itself “a silly and rebellious food blog.”
The Huffington Post was so intrigued by the tweaked sushi that it asked its readers if this was a good idea.
“Clearly, we're not one to judge how others choose to get their bacon fix (except when it comes to fast food sushi which is the definition of too far). We wondered, is this when the bacon craze (er, addiction) has gone too far? Let us know what you think. Vote!” it said.
Its readers were also divided about the idea.
“Too hostile to the concept of clean food,” wrote WeAlwaysKnewIt.
“There are many things I'll pair bacon with, many of which stand a snowballs chance against the mods, but sushi isn't one of them,” wrote evilchihuahua.
“It's freakin' bacon! Everything is better with bacon!” commented nobodybutklem.
This isn't the first time The Huffington Post has reported on fast-food items from the Philippines. The website previously reported about McDonald's Philippines' Twister Fries, which apparently is not available in the United States.
The US media also reported on KFC's Cheese Top Burger, which was even discussed by talk show host Jimmy Kimmel on his show.