On October 7, 2017, McDonald's listened to Rick and Morty fans by bringing back their Szechuan Teriyaki Dipping Sauce at certain locations. The sauce was available at 2 p.m., until supplies lasted. This one-day-only event brought crowds of customers camping outside McDonalds.
McDonald's did not disappoint, and kept their promise on bringing back the Szechuan sauce to promote their new buttermilk chicken tenders. However, some places carried as little as 15-20 packets! Some locations had even broken its rule by giving out the sauce before 2 p.m. Customers were not only left empty-handed, but furious, and demanded for the sauce to be given with their chicken nuggets.
Why the Hype?
The sauce was first introduced and last seen in 1998, to promote Disney's "Mulan," the movie. It was not until the famous and absolutely hilarious Adult Swim cartoon of Rick and Morty had referenced the OG dipping sauce. If you have ever seen the show, (I highly recommend, if you want a good laugh) the first episode of season 3 ends with Rick yelling, "I want that Mulan McNugget Sauce, Morty!
Fans of the show either started to reminisce how good the Mulan McNugget sauce tasted, or wanted to try it because of Rick's madness.
The writer of Rick & Morty, Ryan Ridley gave fans the idea to contact McDonald's Corporate Manager of Culinary Innovation, Mark Harcaz, to bring back the sauce though twitter. Mr. Harcaz listened, and tweeted with, "I'll see what I can do."
Here's What Happened at McDonald's
I am a huge Rick and Morty fan, and a huge- McDonalds customer. So when I heard about the sauce being released, I knew I had to check it out! There were actually three locations in New Jersey where the sauce was being released. I had visited the Paterson location, and man, I should have been there earlier. I got there around 2:00pm, and the lines were wrapped around the entire building! I had waited a good hour on line for this sauce, and even though I ended up not getting the it, they had given out an incentive for free crispy buttermilk tenders, and posters featuring their new sauces.
Since there were only about 20 packets available, customers began to chant, and cause a riot in demand to get more sauce. Police actually had to shut down the Paterson location due a rambunctious and fiery crowd. As it turns out, one of the locations in N.J. had actually lost a shipment of the Szechuan Sauce! Just imagine all the Szechuan-less customers left in fury.
Didn't get to try it? You're in luck!
Due to the overwhelming negative feedback, McDonald's had announced that the Szechuan Teriyaki Dipping Sauce will be coming out again sometime this winter, but the exact date has not been released yet. This time, McDonalds is not going to make this, a "one day only" affair at special locations. Eventually, the sauce will be available at various McDonalds in a less limited supply.
For you fans out there, I feel your struggle. So in the meantime, here is a homemade recipe of the sauce so you can get schwifty like Rick!