This Country's McDonald's Serves The Best Fried Chicken, According To David Chang

If you've followed David Chang over the years, you know he really loves fried chicken — and to many people's surprise, he thinks fried chicken doesn't get much better than at McDonald's in China. This may be a mind-blowing pick, but Chang has never been shy about his appreciation for chain fried chicken. He's a documented fan of Popeye's, and heaped massive praise on China's local KFCs during an episode of his show "Ugly Delicious" dedicated entirely to fried chicken. Even then, it was pretty shocking when he said McDonald's had the best fried chicken in the nation of 1.4 billion people on an episode of "The David Chang Show."

The exchange was documented on Instagram and came in response to a question from his friend Chris Ying, who asked: "True or false? McDonald's fried chicken is the best chicken in China." Chang seemed almost incredulous in his certainty when he responded, "I don't know why that's true or false because it's clearly a fact."

Beyond Chang's love for McDonald's fried chicken, Americans might be surprised to hear the chain serves fried chicken at all. While McDonald's is known for its international menu items, McDonald's in China goes far beyond some local versions of Chicken McNuggets. In fact there are more styles of fried chicken on its menu than types of burgers.

While McDonald's China has favorites like the McChicken and Chicken McNuggets, there is a whole section dedicated to multiple types of fried chicken on its menu. There are at least three types of bone-in fried chicken, which include a classic battered fried chicken, extra-crispy wings, and what's described as "thin-skinned," crispy chicken. The thin-skinned fried chicken looks to be fried with no batter so the skin itself crisps up. It's also available in four flavors: plain, lemon, honey BBQ, and garlic butter.

That would already be impressive, but McDonald's China also sells popcorn chicken and an extra-crispy fried chicken sandwich. The most unusual offering may be the most simple, as the chain also just sells a chicken cutlet by itself. No sandwich, no sauce, no toppings. Just a plain chicken cutlet.

It's such a wide range of offerings that it is hard to know what specifically Chang would even be referring to. However he does have a good theory for why China loves American fried chicken so much. Back on that episode of "Ugly Delicious" Chang explains that fried chicken already existed in its own form in China. So while a hamburger is a very foreign food, American fried chicken is just a variation on tastes that locals are already used to. It helps McDonald's China's massive fried chicken menu make more sense, and shows just how McDonald's has managed to become a truly worldwide chain.