Around the World: MOS Burger Japan Introduces Seasonal Rice Burgers

Out in Japan, MOS Burger introduces two new seasonal winter rice burgers, a dish you'd be hard pressed to find here in the U.S.

Instead of a bun, the burgers feature a formed rice patty brushed with soy sauce and grilled to help it maintain its cohesiveness. The buns are pretty much the same as the "yaki onigiri" or "grilled rice balls" you might find at some Japanese restaurants.

Beyond the bun, the filling for the new burgers are pretty interesting:

There's the Braised Pork Rice Burger which is a slice of pork belly braised in a sweet soy sauce based liquid and served with a bit of cooked spinach.

For the veggie lover (not vegetarian though... Japan is not very vegetarian-friendly. If you're a vegetarian in Japan, rest assured that those cooked vegetables were probably cooked in fish and/or chicken broth), there's the Vegetable Tempura Rice Burger which features lightly battered and fried "patty" of julienne carrots and burdock (a root vegetable not typical of modern Western cuisine, but popular in Asia including Japan). The carrots and burdock are accompanied by a sauce of dried seaweed, wasabi, and soy sauce.

Also on the menu, and neither new nor seasonal, there's the Seafood Tempura Rice Burger featuring a battered and fried "patty" of shrimp, squid, onions, carrots, and edamame, finished with special salt and sesame flavor.

Both the Tempura Rice Burger sell for 300 yen (~3.69 US) while the Braised Pork Rice Burger can be had for 350 yen (~$4.31 US).

With the introduction of the new rice burgers, the Yakiniku ("grilled strips of beef" Rice Burger is discontinued. I tried a version of the Yakiniku Rice Burger in Taiwan while on The Asia Trip two years ago.