Costcos In China Have Fried Chicken In The Food Court And Americans Are Jealous
One neat thing about Costco is the wide variety of cuisines you'll find at the store's international locations. Certain foods are a staple on its menu worldwide, like Costco food court hot dogs, but many countries serve up foods distinct to their region. In China, there's an item on the menu that's not available in the United States but is one of the dishes that define American cuisine — fried chicken. While the Chinese get to enjoy chomping down on some finger-licking good poultry, Americans are left jealous for a taste.
Out of the many different and delicious international fried chicken styles, the kind you'll find at the Costco food courts in Shanghai, Suzhou, or Shenzhen is the classic Southern version, with a thick and crispy breading that's fried to golden brown but has a spicy kick. In fact, spicy fried chicken is a very popular offering in China — where it can be found almost everywhere, including at fast food restaurants like McDonald's. It comes in a bucket like you'll find at American fast food joints and consists of legs (drumsticks and thighs), sold in either three or six pieces.
People online have been vocal about their Costco fried chicken envy — for example, on Reddit, where comments range from cries of "I'm jealous of their selection," (via Reddit) to disappointment along the lines of, "I would trade this with my American menu I think" (per Reddit).
More Costco foods you won't find on U.S. menus
A few other Costco warehouses in other countries also offer up their versions of fried chicken. In Taiwan, it's also sold by the bucket (eight pieces), and although it's not listed on the menu as being spicy, it's actually rather hot, perhaps due to not having much of a batter coating to soak up the spices as it does in China.
Still, other countries also have similar options that Americans covet, such as the Costco Canada food court chicken tenders or bucket of wings. In France, you can get fried chicken strips, and in Japan, you can order a big bucket full of chicken nuggets. The Costco food court item the British have and Americans want features not one but two fried chicken fillets in a sandwich.
China has even more specialties that aren't available for U.S. Costco shoppers. These include creamy shrimp bisque and a shrimp katsu burger, a jumbo bulgogi bake (Americans only get the chicken version), pork mooncakes, and okonomiyaki pizza topped with octopus, shaved bonito, green peppers, corn, and Japanese mayo (per Reddit). Even the hot dogs at China's Costcos are different from what you'll get stateside because they're made with pork instead of kosher 100% USDA beef.