text: 10 Unusual Items from McDonald's International Menu | HowStuffWorks
  Whether they're situated in Times Square or in Hong Kong's hustle and bustle, the golden arches are the same but the food inside may not be.
  As John Travolta says in "Pulp Fiction," it's the little differences that enrich us when we travel. So why do you go to McDonald's abroad? Maybe you're retreating to the Western bathrooms, the air conditioning, the familiar food or a place where you can shirk the local language and just say "Big Mac." Maybe you're operating around the clock in a country that siestas or rushing around a country and a people who move more slowly.
  You may just be curious as to whether the "Pulp Fiction" script is telling the truth: Can you really buy beer at McDonald's in Paris? Do countries that use the metric system call the Quarter Pounder a "Royale with cheese?" Not to spoil your fun, but yes, McDonald's in France -- and the Netherlands, Germany and Austria -- serve beer. And across Europe, you can order a Royal Cheese (note the spelling). If you're still curious, travel around the world with us through a list of local foods on the McDonald's menu. We'll move you from east to west, from Australia all the way over to Mexico.
  And remember, for the gastronomically adventurous souls out there, you can always find authentic cuisine around the corner if you're looking to conduct an informal taste test. Bon voyage.
  Spinach and Parmesan Cheese McNuggets
  Australians like Vegemite so much that it's featured on McDonald's menus AND in Men at Work songs.
  In many countries around the world, breakfast starts with spreading something on toast. For many Americans, it's peanut butter or jelly, but not both. That's lunch. For Europeans, it's often Nutella. And for Australians, it's Vegemite.
  Vegemite was invented in Australia. Made from the extract left over after yeast make beer, the stuff is salty and the color of shoe polish. But Vegemite is packed with vitamin B and is often one of Australian children's first solid foods. At McDonald's, you can order Vegemite with your English muffin.
  Oddly enough, Australian Happy Meals don't include Vegemite. Instead, they serve something called the Pasta Zoo. No koalas or kangaroos here, just vegetable and cheese ravioli in the shape of zoo animals, served with a side of "Zoo Goo," made of tomato, fructose, thickener, vegetable powder, animal fat, coloring, preservative, vegetable gum and more [source: McDonald's Australia site]. We'll take the yeast.
  Next, we'll head north and see what's for lunch in Japan.
  9. EBI Filet-O
  Hamburger, cheeseburger and -- shrimp burger? You must be at McDonald's in Japan. The shrimp burger is called the "EBI Filet-O" in Japan. In Hong Kong, it's formally titled the Shrimp Burger. This sandwich features whole shrimp embedded in a pillow of breading, served on a Big Mac roll. It's nearly a continuous piece of bread, except for a sheet of lettuce and some spicy sauce.
  We don't know why McDonald's mixed shrimp and burger. Its blending of Eastern and Western flavors seems to have worked better on the dessert menu, with the green tea and Oreo McFlurry. If you can abandon the idea of a burger, you might try Japan's own shrimp tempura. These shrimp are encrusted in a light batter and dunk nicely into tempura sauce. But if not, you can always fall back on the Mega Mac (a double Big Mac), which packs 700 calories and 40 grams of fat, and somehow seems distinctly American [source: McDonald's].
  Maybe you're in the mood for something lighter? Perhaps some porridge?
  McDonald's Biggest Markets
  McDonald's makes most of its money in a few countries. In 2008, more than 70 percent of its $23.5 billion in revenue came from restaurants in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, Japan and Australia [source: McDonald's].
  8. Bubur Ayam McD
  In Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur, breakfast at McDonald's includes the Bubur Ayam McD. In Singapore, it's called Chicken SingaPorridge, so you start to get the picture. You'll get a cup of porridge with bits of chicken, ginger, onion, shallots and chili peppers.
  Porridge isn't soup, but rather sodden rice. Malaysians buy their version from food carts or hawker centers, where vendors sell just that dish. While the McDonald's adaptation is heavy on the rice, the Malaysian version comes in generous layers, with the soft rice boiled in chicken or seafood broth on the bottom and sauces, chopped vegetables and shredded chicken added on top.
  Eating it is like an excavation, which you perform using your hands, a spoon or chopsticks, depending on which vendor you visit. In McDonald's, they'll probably give you a spork, but that'll do.
  Speaking of chicken, we bet you've never eaten your chicken in the way we'll talk about next, unless you're from Singapore.
  McDonald's and Israel
  Rumors have circulated on the Internet that McDonald's donates profits to Israel for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the hamburger chain reports they aren't true on both its Egypt site and its Malaysia site.
  7. Shaka Shaka Chicken
  That guy in downtown Singapore isn't eating chicken in a bag. Maybe he wants to keep his hands clean so he can shake Ronald's hand.
  AP Photo/Simon Thong
  In Singapore, where Chinese, Indian, Thai and Malaysian cooking blend, you can expect a lot of pepper and spice. For its part, Singaporean McDonald's serve Shaka Shaka Chicken. You'll get a breaded, deep-fried chicken patty in a wax-paper bag. You dump spicy powder into the bag, and as you "shaka" it, the spices stick to the patty with the help of the frying oil. If you're too lazy to leave the hotel, you can always order a chicken sandwich online, add some jasmine tea and make it come to you with a McDelivery.
  The McDonald's bagged chicken was likely inspired by crispy five-spice chicken, a Singaporean Chinese dish. This chicken marinates in soy sauce, rice wine, honey and five spices: cloves, fennel, Sichuan pepper, star anise and cassia (which comes from cinnamon bark). It's rolled in egg and corn flour, then deep-fried. The chicken emerges with a sweet and sticky shell.
  But even poultry-loving Singaporeans may order an occasional burger. When McDonald's opened its first restaurant in the country in 1979, the chain broke the record for the highest volume of hamburgers served on one day [source: McDonald's].
  6. The McVeggie
  An Indian holy man sips a drink at the opening of the first McDonald's in New Delhi in 1996. If you're wondering what a beefless McDonald's menu would look like, head there to find out.
  5. The McArabia
  Palestinian kids waiting for their falafel sandwich in East Jerusalem, Israel. The balls of falafel are on the right.
  If you're stopping for street food in Egypt, you'll find two types of sandwiches. One is shawarma. This sandwich starts with a big hunk of lamb or chicken rotating on a spit. The vendor will shave piles of the meat into your warm pita bread. Another is falafel. The falafel vendor will stuff fried chickpea balls into your pita, then add vegetables and tahini sauce, a sesame seed paste.
  Golden Arches Prevent Conflict?
  In 1996, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman pointed out that no two countries with a McDonald's had fought a war against one another. He jokingly argued that McDonald's meant peace because it popped up in countries with a large middle class, a global economic stake and interest in foreign investments -- all stabilizing factors [source: Friedman]. The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict is one counterexample to the tongue-in-cheek "theory."
  1. Molletes
  You've probably heard of huevos rancheros, but what about molletes?
  Greg Kuchik/Getty Images
  If you fold two of them together and wonder who forgot the top to your other bean McMuffin, you're missing the point. Molletes are supposed to be open-faced. But traditional molletes, unlike McDonald's, don't include English muffins. The bread is traditionally a bolillo, a homemade roll that's crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, and is better at soaking up sauce than the muffins used in McDonald's trademarked egg sandwich. In addition, instead of processed American cheese, the cheese is typically a fresher white cheese like Monterey Jack. For the sweet rather than savory types out there, you can also find "dulce" molletes, but so far McDonald's hasn't added them to its menu in Mexico or elsewhere.
  Alva, Marilyn. "World's largest McDonald's opens to big crowds in Rome; some call new 425-seat unit the 'death of Italian cuisine'." Nation's Restaurant News. May 5, 1986. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_v20/ai_4234025/
  Barker, Heidi. Personal communication. 4/3/2009.
  Bruscino Sanchez, Maria. "Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts." 2000. (4/1/2009)http://books.google.com/books?id=yU0Vq9mhtnUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=italian+desserts&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1990&as_maxm_is=4&as_maxy_is=2009&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA55,M1
  Friedman, Thomas L. "Foreign Affairs Big Mac I." The New York Times. Dec. 8, 1996. (4/9/2009)http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/08/opinion/foreign-affairs-big-mac-i.html
  Germaine, Elizabeth at al. "Cooking the Australian Way." 2003. (4/1/2009)http://books.google.com/books?id=YCros0fL1rwC&pg=PP1&dq=cooking+the+australian+way#PPA13,M1
  Higuera McMahan, Jacqueline. "California Ranchero Cooking: Mexican and Californian Recipes." 2001. Seattle: Sasquatch Books.
  Hutton, Wendy. "Singapore Food." 2007. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish
  Kraft Foods Australia. "Vegemite Facts & Fiction." 2009. (4/1/2009) http://www.vegemite.com.au/vegemite/page?siteid=vegemite-prd&locale=auen1&PagecRef=646
  McDonald's Australia Site. "McDonald's Product Ingredients." Feb. 18, 2009. (4/1/2009)http://www.mcdonalds.com.au/PDFs/Ingredient_Listing_Information.pdf
  McDonald's Canada Site. "McDonald's Nutrition Calculator: Double Big Mac Sandwich." (4/9/2009)http://www.mcdonalds.ca/NutritionCalculator/index_en.html
  McDonald's Corporation. "McDonald's Dispels War Effort Internet Rumors." Jan. 15, 2009. (4/9/2009)http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/media_center/recent_news/corporate/mcdonald_s_dispels.html
  McDonald's Corporation. "McDonald's Corporation Form 10K." Feb. 25, 2009. (4/9/2009) http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/cgi/image?ipage=6162911&doc=11&cik=63908&odef=8&rid=12&quest=1&xbrl=0&dn=2
  McDonald's Egypt Site."Menu." 2008. (4/1/2009) http://www.mcdonaldsegypt.com/
  McDonald's España Site. "Gazpacho Alvalle." 2007. (4/1/2009) http://www.mcdonalds.es/#/all-products/product-gazpacho/
  McDonald's India Site. "Menu." 2009. (4/1/2009) http://www.mcdonaldsindia.com/menu.html
  McDonald's Italia Site. "I Nostri Prodotti." 2009. (4/1/2009) http://www.mcdonalds.it/#/all-products/
  McDonald's Japan Site. "McFlurry & Oreo." 2009. (4/1/2009) http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/menu/limited/mcflurry/index.html
  McDonald's Japan Site. "Regular Menu." 2009. (4/1/2009)http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/menu/regular/index.html
  McDonald's Malaysia Site. "Menu Items: A La Carte Menu." 2008. (4/1/2009) http://www.mcdonalds.com.my/ourfood/alacarte.asp
  McDonald's México Site. "McMolletes." 2009. (4/1/2009)http://www.mcdonalds.com.mx/
  McDonald's Singapore Site. "History." 4/12/09http://www.mcdonalds.com.sg/companyinfo_history.html
  McDonald's Singapore Site. "Profile." 4/8/09http://www.mcdonalds.com.sg/companyinfo_profile.html
  Susan L. Nasr "10 Unusual Items from McDonald's International Menu" 13 April 2009.
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