Doughnuts and fried chicken come together in new Mister Donut Burger

Is this fried monstrosity worth the calories? 

Mister Donut has come a long way, literally and metaphorically, since its founding in the U.S. in 1956. These days, the chain boasts outlets in Central America, Africa, and Asia, where you can sometimes find collaborations with local fast food chains that take doughnuts to a whole other level.

▼ That’s been the case over in Taiwan, where Mister Donut recently teamed up with local fried chicken chain 21 Plus.

▼ The collaboration they’ve come up with is the “Kinako Fried Chicken Pon de Ring”.

The Pon de Ring is one of Mr Donut’s signature items, but this time it’s being used in place of burger buns, with a slab of crispy fried chicken sandwiched between two of them. For our Taiwan-based reporter Yui Imai, this was a guilty pleasure she just had to try, so she headed out to 21 Plus to buy the burger as part of a set, which comes with French fries and a drink for 189 yuan (US$6.53).

Unwrapping the burger revealed it to be as beautiful as she’d hoped — Mister Donut’s Pon de Rings were covered in a kinako (roasted soybean powder) topping, making a powerful visual statement as they hugged the chunky fried chicken on both sides.

A mound of lettuce poked its way through the doughnut hole on top, promising some fresh respite from the carb-heavy feast. Yui couldn’t imagine what this combination would taste like, so she decided to bite the bullet by bringing the burger to her mouth and crunching down through its weird and wonderful layers.

It was immediately chewy, sweet, salty, spicy, juicy and crispy all at once, confounding her senses and confusing her mind. She took another bite, and was able to get a clearer picture of the different components and how they worked together — the doughnut provided a chewy texture to the mix, while the kinako topping added a sweet accent.

The fried chicken was moist and juicy, and the thickness of the serving helped to ensure it wasn’t lost beneath the sweet flavour of the doughnut. It also had a pleasant salty spiciness to it, which worked well against the gentle sweetness of the kinako and the freshness of the lettuce.

Despite being confused at first bite, by last bite Yui was hooked on all the flavours. Unfortunately, though, Yui tells us the burger is no longer available, as it was only sold for a limited time, from 11-29 May, so Yui’s addiction finished as soon as it began. It’s probably for the best, really, considering her last guilty obsession involved Pizza Hut pizzas with fried chicken and Oreos.

Related: 21 Plus
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