'MacDunaldu': Ancient Koreans drool over Korean McDonald's in 'Mr. Queen'
MANILA, Philippines — McDonald's in Joseon Korea?
Fans of the hit tVN show "Mr. Queen" were in stitches upon seeing the wonderful surprise in the show's 12th episode.
They never thought they would see their 21st century guilty pleasures of burger, fortune jelly popsicle and potato twist in 19th century Korea.
"Mr. Queen" tells the story of Jang Bong-hwan (Choi Jin-hyuk), a self-assured, male executive chef at Korea's Blue House (similar to Philippines' Malacanang) who suddenly finds himself transported at the tail-end of the 500-year Joseon dynasty.
After experiencing a near-death experience, he wakes up in the body of Cheorin (Shin Hye-sun), the soon-to-be queen of the 25th king of Joseon dynasty, King Cheoljong (Kim Jung-hyun).
In the latest episode, Cheorin took control of the kitchen to prepare the banquet for the king's meal with nobles and high-ranking officials, among them were his fierce rivals and plotting against him for the throne.
Instead of premium ingredients for the banquet, which they were expecting but didn't arrive in time, Cheorin made use of available ingredients and came up with a menu that surprised the guests.
The first to come out was the appetizer called Yongsu Potato, deep-fried, twister potato that comes with three different seasonings and a dipping sauce. Even sneaky Queen Sunwon (Bae Jong-ok) couldn't help but make a surprised face as she bit into it.
Next came the "highlight of the banquet." It's the MacDunaldu consisting of a veggie stew placed inside a large tomato with its seeds plucked out, and a vegan hamburger steak that is presented as a sandwich.
Cheorin called it MacDunaldu while singing it like the jingle, writing the note to Cheoljong who reads the explanation to his guests. MacDuNalDu stands for barley (Mac), bean (Du), fattening (Nal) and belly (Du).
At end the banquet, the guests enjoyed jelly popsicle that told them their future like a fortune cookie. The sticks were inscribed with words meant to tell their "future."
Many drama fans jested that they didn't know McDonald's "originated" in South Korea.
"McDonald's founder: Everybody say, 'Thank you, Mama'," @kyuulture tweeted, referring to the address "Mama" as your highness in Korean.
"First burger in Joseon. It's called 'Macdunaldu,'" posted @CherryMetawin.
"Mr. Queen" premiered last December 12 and airs every Saturday and Sunday at 9 p.m. (KST). It has 20 episodes.
