bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Sarah Zheng

McDonald’s Sichuan dipping sauce has made headlines in China after a vintage pack of it appeared to have been sold on eBay alongside another flavoured sauce for a whopping US$14,700 this week.
The packet of “Mulan Szechuan teriyaki dipping sauce” had been briefly available in some Western countries in 1998, when the fast-food chain was promoting the release of Disney’s animated film Mulan.
It was put up for auction on eBay together with a vintage McDonald’s wasabi sauce by a seller from Britain this week, the Beijing Evening News reported.
Sichuan cuisine and the red hot secret about globalisation
The seller said he had found the two packets of limited-edition dipping sauce while cleaning out “a really old car”.
The sauces received 187 bids before they were eventually sold for US$14,700.
“I hope somebody who wants to eat some 20-year-old gnarly sauce gets this,” the seller wrote in the listing’s description. “I would prefer not to sell it to a collector.”


Sichuan cuisine – which originates from China’s southwestern Sichuan province – is characterised by its bold, pungent and spicy flavours.
McDonald’s Mulan Szechuan teriyaki dipping sauce has been described as tasting sweet, sour and spicy.
While some Chinese internet users expressed doubts about the high bids for the vintage sauces – one listing last week reportedly reached US$99,000 – others were simply amused by the attention the Chinese-style sauce was receiving.
Meet sansho, Sichuan peppercorn's Japanese cousin
Some also poked fun at the sauce for not authentically representing Sichuan cuisine or Chinese culture.
“Don’t even need to try the sauce to know it’ll be sweet and sour with a tinge of spiciness – nothing to do with Sichuan,” one of the top comments on Weibo read.
“People in Sichuan haven’t even tried McDonald’s Sichuan sauce,” another wrote.


The sauce was recently thrust into the spotlight by popular American animated sci-fi sitcom Rick and Morty.
In the show’s third season premiere in the United States on April 1, main character Rick told his compatriot Morty: “I want that Mulan McNugget sauce, Morty, that’s my series arc, Morty. If it takes nine seasons, I want my McNugget dipping sauce Szechuan sauce.”
Following that episode, thousands of fans started a petition online, demanding for McDonald’s to bring back the sauce. The petition had almost 35,000 signatures by Thursday.

@RickandMorty .@RickandMorty McNugga Lubba Dub Dub.
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) April 2, 2017

In response to the viral attention online, the fast-food chain responded on its Twitter account, paraphrasing a Rick and Morty catchphrase “wubba lubba dub dub” in a tweet: “McNugga Lubba Dub Dub.”
“If a man does not have SzeChuan sauce, then he is lost. But the same man can be lost in the Szechuan sauce,” one Twitter user quipped.


For Chinese consumers, buying local has become a statement of national pride

China son quits job to care for ‘2-year-old’ mum who lost mental faculties after falling ill

China could miss urban jobs target amid trade war, property sector trouble: analysts

6 ways China’s modernisation offers a new path to prosperity

China society

McDonald’s vintage ‘Sichuan sauce’ makes headlines in China after US$14,700 sale on eBay

The winning bid on eBay for the McDonald’s Mulan Szechuan dipping sauce was US$14,700. Photo: Handout

News

China

People & Culture

Fans have started online campaign for the fast-food chain to bring back the limited-edition condiment, but Chinese internet users poke fun at it


McDonald's