Ryuji Recreates McDonald's "Supachiki" at Home: Building the Sauce and Making a "Generic Supachiki"

Taya describes themselves as addicted to McDonald's. According to Taya, the Supachiki is ending in February, and McDonald's fans are lamenting it on X and elsewhere. Neither Ryuji nor the other staff had ever heard of a product called the Supachiki.

Also brought in was the Red Pepper flavor of the "Shaka Chicken," which is likewise ending in February. Taya's request was for Ryuji to try them first and, if Ryuji found them tasty, to recreate them. Ryuji begins the tasting with one condition: "If it's not good, I won't recreate it."

First up is the Shaka Chicken. It's the kind where you sprinkle the included powder over the chicken and shake it in the bag, and it costs 220 yen. The powder contains powdered miso, garlic powder, and more. Ryuji says that nuggets are about the only thing usually eaten there, so Ryuji didn't know this kind of product existed.

Ryuji's verdict after tasting: "Very garlicky." The impression is close to a convenience-store hot snack, and Ryuji also calls it "a winner." It's properly spicy and "an addictive flavor," so Ryuji says it's understandable why fans are sad to see it go. Analyzing the flavor, Ryuji notes that while the ingredients include powdered miso and soy sauce, it's basically garlic powder and salt, plus a cheese-like flavor. The chili also comes through strongly. The inside is breast meat with a texture leaning toward nuggets, so Ryuji also likes that it has little gaminess. When eating it again later, Ryuji is surprised that none of the shaken powder is left in the bag at all. Ryuji's take is that the coating is closer to crispy chicken than to the Famichiki style.

Next is the Supachiki. On hearing that it's the same price as the Shaka Chicken when bought on its own, Ryuji is convinced: "So that's why everyone's rushing to buy it."

The first thing that catches the eye is how red the sauce is. As for the chicken, Ryuji thinks it isn't simply breast meat. It's ground and formed meat, close to the inside of a nugget.

Ryuji rates the sauce extremely highly, repeating "It's insanely good" and "The sauce is frighteningly good." It's properly spicy with a strong garlic aroma, and Ryuji describes it as a "garlic pepper mayo." The key to this product is the sauce, and the assessment is that if you can just recreate the sauce, all that's left is the work of frying the chicken.

The final ratings: the Shaka Chicken Red Pepper flavor gets an "S," and the Supachiki gets S or higher. As reasons, Ryuji cites first that it's cheap, and second that the sauce is just plain delicious.

At the tasting stage, Ryuji analyzed the sauce as "like sweet chili with mayonnaise mixed in." For that reason, Ryuji says recreating it might be a bit difficult. If Sriracha sauce were allowed, it would be simple, but without it, Ryuji guesses that combining Tabasco, ketchup, and mayonnaise with a large amount of garlic would work well, and asks for time to research it.

About a week after the previous review, the sauce is finally complete. Ryuji also says, "It was easy." The quantities are for two servings, and since it won't spoil if you make extra, Ryuji says making more is fine.

The base is 40 g of ketchup, to which you add 30 g of mayonnaise. Use 24 shakes of Tabasco (about 8 g), 2 pinches of salt, and about 6 g of grated garlic. Sriracha sauce goes well with it, but Ryuji doesn't have any at home, so it isn't used. Ryuji explains that Sriracha is a condiment sold at supermarkets and places like Kaldi, and that ketchup, Tabasco, and garlic can create a flavor that substitutes for it. In other words, the sauce is structured as if you're making your own Sriracha while making the Supachiki sauce.

When a staff member remarks that it's "like kebab," Ryuji replies that kebab sauce needs things like cumin, so it's a little different. However, Ryuji adds that the original Supachiki sauce may contain a little cumin too, so the sense that it's kebab-sauce-like is on the mark.

The sauce went through one more round of revision. When they bought a real Supachiki to check and compared the two, Ryuji noticed that the original was sweeter. Declaring that "sweetness is absolutely necessary," Ryuji decided to add honey. The amount is probably about 8 g, which is a little over 1 teaspoon. Ryuji recommends measuring in grams if you want exactly the same flavor.

Ryuji didn't have the real product on hand during the research, but looks back on how having it improves the accuracy of a recreation. With a little honey added, Ryuji judges it "perfect" and says, "It's become Supachiki." Ryuji's claim is that if you remember this sauce, anything you put it on will taste like Supachiki, so you can have Supachiki anytime even after it's discontinued.

The chicken is chicken breast. Ryuji reasons that the original's meat is nugget-like, made of formed ground meat, and probably not very high in fat. That's why breast is judged to be fine.

Score the breast, cover it with plastic wrap, and pound it thin and flat. This is one of Ryuji's go-to techniques. Pounding breaks down the meat fibers and makes it tender, and also brings it closer to the pounded texture of a nugget. Cut one breast in half down the middle and use one half per burger. Ryuji says this is probably the size limit. The skin can be left on or removed; it's treated as optional, something you might remove if you want to get closer to the original.

The chicken itself is seasoned very simply. Since the Supachiki's sauce is spicy, Ryuji guesses that not much spice goes into the chicken. The view is that it pairs a fairly simple fried chicken with a strong sauce. Rub in salt, 10 shakes of Ajinomoto, 12 shakes of table pepper, and 10 shakes of garlic powder. Ryuji says this makes something like "McDonald's standard chicken," and since it uses a whole chicken breast, it ends up tastier than that.

Ryuji wavers a little over which flour to use for the coating. Cake flour makes it tasty too, but if you want a crunchy texture, bread flour is better. Ryuji also brings up a previous time using bread flour for KFC-style chicken. In the end, Ryuji goes with bread flour, reasoning that people who love crunchiness are in the bread flour camp. With cake flour, the process is exactly the same; the texture is just softer.

Rub 1 tablespoon of bread flour and 2 tablespoons of water into the meat to make a simple batter in the bag. Ryuji notes that it's economical because it uses no eggs. Since the meat has been pounded, the spices penetrate well even without a long marinade.

Between steps, Ryuji also touches on how the recreation request came about. About 10 DMs arrived saying, "The Supachiki is ending, so please recreate it." Ryuji laughs that if it has that many fans, they should just not discontinue it. When a staff member mentions the possibility of a revamp, Ryuji replies that if that happens, the recreation will have been pointless.

Ryuji also says that probably not many people will actually attempt such a time-consuming recreation. Still, it makes it easier for people living overseas to make it. Ryuji is often thanked by Japanese people living abroad who want to eat Japanese food. McDonald's overseas has a different menu from Japan, and at McDonald's in France there was nothing like the Supachiki. Ryuji also shares the experience that Yoshinoya's menu varies by country too, and that on a visit to a Yoshinoya in Singapore about 20 years ago, there was green curry.

While the seasoned meat rests, chop the lettuce. Here Ryuji emphasizes the role of lettuce. The aroma of lettuce is strongly associated with McDonald's, and at McDonald's, lettuce plays the role of an herb more than a vegetable. Ryuji gives the example that a Big Mac stops tasting like a Big Mac if you leave out the lettuce, and says not many people have noticed this.

The lettuce in the Supachiki was finely shredded, so shred it finely in the same way. One large leaf is plenty. People who want lots can add more, but since the original doesn't have that much either, Ryuji says this amount is fine.

If you have buns, buns are fine, but this time Ryuji uses sandwich bread. Because the chicken is big, 6-slice-per-loaf bread is just right; 8-slice bread is too thin and gets overpowered. The reason given is that the original's buns are fluffy too. Toast the bread until it's lightly browned.

Coat the meat generously with bread flour and shallow-fry it in a small frying pan. Even if you pounded it too much and it's falling apart a bit, it holds together once fried. With flour all over your hands, Ryuji grumbles half-jokingly, "You're definitely better off having McDonald's make it for you." Even so, Ryuji says that when something is going away, you want to recreate it, and that this kind of work is fun.

The heat is medium-high. The coating starts out whitish but turns brown as it fries. When a staff member asks whether frying it for a long time will make it tough, Ryuji says it won't. The explanation is that fried chicken is coated in oil, so the moisture doesn't escape. Once it's browned all over, raise the temperature just once and fry until the flour is well browned. The inside cooks through with residual heat. It's finished with a single fry rather than double-frying.

Ryuji recommends using parchment paper for assembly. First, spread just a little sauce on the toasted bread. This makes the flavors come together better. Top it with the chicken and the shredded lettuce, then pour on plenty of sauce. The reasoning is that when you're eating this much chicken, it's better to use a lot of sauce. Finally, sandwich it with the other slice of bread.

Then wrap it in parchment paper, folding it in. This is Ryuji's usual method for sandwiches made with sandwich bread; it makes them easy to cut and gives you a McDonald's-style wrapper that keeps your hands clean. Ryuji says it's fine to fold it sloppily. Since it's two servings, a second identical one is made.

When the wrapper is opened, someone exclaims, "Whoa, that looks delicious." Juices are overflowing from the meat. Ryuji proudly declares that it'll be fine even when the Supachiki is gone, and moves on to the tasting.

A staff member's first verdict is "It surpasses it." As for the chicken, they're surprised by the crispy coating and tender meat, and say that making it from scratch makes it this much tastier. Meanwhile, everyone agrees that the sauce is very close to the Supachiki sauce. Ryuji also says that tasting the sauce alone shows how similar it is. It has real heat too, just as spicy as the original. They also agree that the lettuce is absolutely essential.

McDonald's addict Taya answers, "I think it's really similar." Taya then sums up that because the quality of the chicken is completely different, it breaks the rules, but even as its own thing it's way too good.

Near the end of the tasting, the question comes up of whether it has to be chicken breast. Someone suggests that thigh might work too, but no conclusion is reached. Ryuji cautions that if you don't adjust the frying time properly, it could end up undercooked. Ryuji also says it's a good idea to make extra sauce and use it in other dishes.

For people who find frying chicken a hassle, Ryuji suggests another approach as well: buy a McChicken without sauce and put this sauce in it. Since the sauce is such a faithful recreation, Ryuji thinks it would work quite well, and says they'd like to hear reports from anyone who actually tries it.