McDonald’s US Szechuan Sauce comeback. Credit: McDonald’s.

McDonald’s is bringing back its Szechuan Sauce with 20 million packets being distributed after its limited batch in October last year led to riots and disappointed fans.

The sauce will be available in all US restaurants with a qualifying purchase from 26 February 2018.

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The dipping sauce was initially brought in to McDonald’s stores in 1998 to promote the release of Disney’s film, Mulan. It was created to mimic traditional Chinese Szechuan sauce and paired with Happy Meal Chicken McNuggets.

However, the sauce sparked intrigue again due to its reference in science fiction cartoon, Rick and Morty in 2017, causing McDonald’s US to bring it back.

The fast-casual chain distributed around 20 to 40 packets of the sauce and 10 special-edition posters to each restaurant, which led to hundreds of angry fans who couldn’t get their hands on them, and police at the scene.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “Last October, we truly meant well when we brought back a super-limited batch of Szechuan Sauce, but it quickly became apparent we did not make enough to meet the expectations of our fans.

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“We did not anticipate the overnight crowds, the cross-state travel and the amazing curiosity, passion and energy fans showed.

“Our super-limited batch, though well-intentioned, clearly wasn’t near enough to meet that demand. We disappointed fans and we are sorry.

“To fully make amends, we felt it was important to not only bring back much more sauce this time, but to also admit our mistakes, answer questions and give fans access to the story behind the story.”

Traditional Szechuan sauce is a teriyaki dipping sauce made with a combination of spices, ginger, plum, soy sauce and sesame.