Pizza Hut Taiwan has launched a very unique ramen pizza – complete with thick noodles, pork slices, and a soft-boiled egg.
The pizza giant has teamed up with Menya Musashi, a popular ramen restaurant from Tokyo, to create the world’s first Japanese-inspired pizza topping.
The unusual mashup consists of ramen noodles, barbecue pork slices, white sesame seeds, fresh chilli, half a soft-boiled egg and a pork ‘bone broth’ sauce.
Foodies can order the pizza with spring onions and bamboo shoots on the side from any Pizza Hut store in Taiwan for TWD$459 (AUD$22.64).
Pizza Hut Taiwan has launched a very unique ramen pizza – complete with thick noodles, pork slices, and a soft-boiled egg
‘The world’s first ramen pizza! Japan’s ramen from two-time champion noodle house Musashi,’ the description said on the Pizza Hut website.
‘Original noodles with large slices of Japanese barbecued pork, sprinkled with green onion and refreshing bamboo shoots, plus classic poached eggs… a bite into the soul ramen pizza.’
Lily Chou, marketing director of Pizza Hut, told CNN Travel: ‘Taiwanese consumers live a high-pressure life with long working hours and high cost of living.
‘The creative food scene has become an exciting and creative escape. Taiwanese are looking for quick moments of joy to relieve daily pressures.’
The unusual mashup consists of ramen noodles, barbecue pork slices, white sesame seeds, fresh chilli, half a soft-boiled egg and a pork ‘bone broth’ sauce
The launch of the new topping has since divided the internet, with many saying aren’t too keen to try out the new flavour, while ramen fans feel the opposite.
‘People are saying it’s nasty but I wish I could try a bite,’ one woman said, while another added: ‘People have mixed feelings about this but I need this in my life.’
One father said: ‘While my daughter is a spice ramen addict, this may be a step too far, even for her,’ while another woman said: ‘I’m a pizza purist and I find this offensive.’
In a tongue-in-cheek post on Facebook, Menya Musashi said: ‘First, Japan introduced bubble tea ramen, offending the Taiwanese people and worsening the Japanese-Taiwanese relationship.
‘This time, Menya Musashi has decided to join hands with Pizza Hut Taiwan to cross both the Japanese and the Italians.’
And Pizza Hut isn’t the only chain to launch unusual pizza toppings.
Last November, Domino’s launched a bubble tea-inspired pizza – complete with black pearls, honey and cheese
Last November, Domino’s launched a bubble tea-inspired pizza – complete with black sugar pearls, honey and cheese across Taiwan.
The sweet tapioca balls, known as boba, are commonly found in milky tea drinks, which have been popular among tens of thousands of customers around the world, including Australia, UK and the US.
‘Don’t miss the highlight of Taiwan that is popular around the world: the black sugar pearl explosion,’ the pizza chain said at the time.
Despite it’s bizarre combination of cheese and honey coated base, foodies who got their hands on a slice insisted the dessert pizza tastes better than it looks.
Lev Nachman, a University of California Irvine PhD candidate who’s conducting research in Taiwan, shared his glowing review on Twitter.
‘It’s happening. I’m having the mythical Taiwan exclusive boba pizza from Domino’s for dinner. Will report back on the situation later,’ he tweeted before eating.
Lev Nachman, a University of California Irvine PhD candidate who’s conducting research in Taiwan, shared his glowing review on Twitter, saying he thought the pizza was ‘delicious’
The man said he was pleasantly surprised by the flavour combination.
‘Omg it’s incredible. They nailed it. Not joking, everyone here needs to try this. The pizza is savory, but it’s sweetened with honey on top, the boba aren’t mushy,’ he said.
He also mentioned his friend who ‘daringly tried’ the new creation agreed the pizza was ‘in fact delicious’.
Speaking to CNN Travel, Lev said he enjoyed the pizza’s texture ‘Q’.
‘In Taiwan everyone loves the texture ‘Q’ which means chewy or bouncy in the way boba is, and this pizza was indeed very Q,’ he said.
Despite it’s bizarre combination of cheese and honey coated base, a foodie who got his hands on a slice insisted the dessert pizza tastes better than it looks
His tweet was quickly retweeted by 350 people, and ‘loved’ 1,200 times – as his post was met with mixed reviews.
‘That’s just so amazing! I cannot imagine how it tastes like or what the texture is like to be honest. Have to give it a try next time in Taipei,’ Jun said.
Another said: ‘Wait does it really taste okay? Because it seriously looks weird to me.’
One said: ‘I am intrigued. Will try anything (at least) once, let’s go get some.’
And one said: ‘No matter how good you said it is, I will pass.’
Bubble tea has become a very popular drink of choice around the world after it was founded by a Taiwan tea house chain in 1988.