I love black.  Whether we’re talking about licorice, black diamonds, black jade, black magic, the Black Stallion books, Black Forest ham, the irie vibrations of Black Uhuru, spinel, kohl pencil, “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin, black holes, ninjas, Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration album, mourning jewelry, Darth Vader, the proverbial LBD, eveningwear, Amex’s Centurion card, onyx Bagheera the panther (from The Jungle Book), blackened catfish po’boys, or Tahitian pearls; I can’t get enough black.

Black is the epitome of cool. It’s sexy.  It’s slimming.  It’s encompassing.  It’s infinite.  It’s enveloping.  It’s sensual.  It’s the basis upon which the concept of chic was built.

Now, the idea of using squid ink to color food black is not a new one.  Just this past spring, at Scalinatella in New York, I supped on a Linguini Frutti di Mare covered with black truffles shaved tableside (and it was good).  But imagine my surprise upon seeing that Burger King Japan has launched a promotional KURO (“black”) Burger!

This is not Burger King’s first foray into the dark.  That would have been a couple of years ago (about the same time that French burger-chain Quick released the Darth Vador (sic), to commemorate the re-release of The Phantom Menace.  Since that introductory promotion, Burger King Singapore released the BK Charcoal Black (just the bun was black, and quite stylish with the contrasting white seeds – see video), and McDonald’s China came-out with the Yin Yang (known as the Black and White, in Hong Kong; it seems not to have been particularly well received). 

But with the KURO Pearl, BK didn’t just dye the bun – they went the whole hog (or cow, as it were).  The KURO is topped with black cheese made by smoking it with bamboo charcoal (sounds tasty, but looks like square-shaped pieces of Hefty trash bags), and a sauce made from black garlic, onion, and squid ink.  The bun is also smoked with the bamboo charcoal.  For a few Yen more, there’s the KURO Diamond, with tomato, lettuce, and onion (in their natural hues).

And how does it taste?  I haven’t the foggiest notion.  I think the KURO Pearl looks a bit bleek for my tastes, but I think I could really enjoy the KURO Diamond; but until I try them, your guess is as good as mine.  Considering that this is coming from the same country that just informed us that Hello Kitty is actually an English schoolgirl (albeit with cropped ears and whiskers), though, anything’s possible.

KURO Burgers
Burger King Japan
Click HERE for info

Get into it!

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Blk burger
My brother lives in japan. Sending him the link. I'll report back.
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