Texas Chicken New Zealand has announced that it will be designing its first ever regional burger – with the help of Rotorua locals.

The popular fried chicken brand ran a survey in January, which asked customers to share their thoughts on what an official regional burger should look and taste like.

More than 500 people responded with their ideas and favourite ingredients.

Some clear themes came through in the results. Most people (63 per cent) agreed that the burger needs to be spicy to reflect Rotorua's geothermal heritage.

Egg was also mentioned by almost forty percent (38 per cent) as an obvious nod to the sulphuric scent that Rotorua is famous for. Smoky flavours were suggested to celebrate the region's volcanic past with 76 per cent of people asking for bacon and 25 per cent BBQ sauce.

Many participants favoured quite traditional ingredients, such as cheese (86 per cent), onion (66 per cent), lettuce (84 per cent) and mayo (45 per cent) with most wanting two chicken patties (63 per cent). However, there were some markedly more creative suggestions, such as:

'It needs to be spicy and perhaps include jalapeños with spicy chicken to really heat things up like a Rotorua thermal pool."

'Definitely creamy mushrooms with a hint of garlic to reflect the bubbling mud pools.”

'A hangi inspired burger. Bun, spicy chutney, kumara patty, boneless chicken breast, smoked cheese, lettuce mayo.”

'Puha or watercress (greens), Maori fried bread as bun, kumara chips, avocado, kiwifruit chutney, battered prawns and oysters, manuka honey and mustard.”

'Two chicken fillets crumbed or grilled, creamed mushrooms or paua to add some thermal mud colour, egg for the smell of Rotorua, onion rings, bacon, raw red onion, red capsicum, pineapple, avocado, egg and prawns topped with aioli and sweet chilli sauce in a toasted brioche bun.”

An example of a Texas Chicken burger. The regional one is still in the design process.

Texas Chicken has started testing various combinations using the results of the survey. The Rotorua chicken burger is expected to appear on menus in early March 2019 and will be available for a limited time from both Texas Chicken Fairy Springs and Texas Chicken Te Ngae Rd.

Both restaurants are serving up the full high-quality Texas Chicken menu, including its hand-battered, freshly cooked chicken pieces, burgers, wraps, a variety of sides and its world-famous honey butter buns.

Texas Chicken Fairy Springs can be found at 5 Maisey Place, Fairy Springs, Rotorua. Texas Chicken Te Ngae Rd is at 334 Te Ngae Road, Lynmore.

For more information, visit texaschicken.co.nz. To follow the brand and to share your thoughts on what the limited edition Rotorua burger should include, like the Facebook page at facebook.com/TexasChickenNewZealand.