Snake Pizza Is Now A Real Thing You Can Eat

The daring menu item slithering into the spotlight merges the hearty, locally beloved flavors of snake stew with a pizza slice’s convenience and delicious familiarity. Laden with shredded snake meat, juicy black mushrooms, and a succulent layer of Chinese dried ham, the dish harkens to an East Asian culinary tradition preceding the arrival of pizza by millennia.

Indeed, the pizza’s components are anything but arbitrary, representing the soul of an authentic snake stew, one cherished in both Hong Kong and stretches of Southern China. Locals tend to crave the original stew and inspiration for the snake pizza when the temperature drops and Autumn begins. The dish is also reputed to have medicinal benefits, such as improving symptoms of skin conditions and imparting heat to the body. 

Snake meat is also enjoyed in Southeast Asian food culture as well—extending to countries like Vietnam and Thailand. Fans of the very particular protein relish it for its unique flavor and potential health perks. Pizza Hut Hong Kong’s snake pizza additionally includes cheese and diced chicken, which the brand’s outpost believes only enhance the richness of the flavors. 

All are amounting to a dish defying conventional health food and testing the adventurousness of the palate. The groundbreaking 9-inch pie eschews the run-of-the-mill tomato sauce base, opting for an abalone sauce, a distinct gourmet touch complementing the other ingredients’ umami notes.

Gracing Pizza Hut Hong Kong’s menu until November 22, the dish has inspired various reactions among diners. 

No one—as far as we know—thinks snake pizza will grant them snake-like powers, a la Peter Parker in Spider-man . Indeed, some diners, like Mabel Sieh, voiced trepidation at the concept of snake as an ingredient. Others, such as Rachel Wong, who adores the flavor of snake soup, embrace the novelty with open arms. For her part, Wong characterized the snake meat as bearing a textural resemblance to chicken yet retaining echoes of fish flavor and other seafood. 

After the ideal balance of flavors, Pizza Hut accessed and benefited from Ser Wong Fun’s intimate knowledge of classic regional Chinese cuisine to engender the mixed snake recipe. The recipe for snake pizza highlights a mix of Chinese rat snakes, banded kraits, and white banded snakes—all of which aims for a perfect equilibrium, as scrumptious as it is savory. 

The newly unveiled reptilian pizza represents a broader trend of Asian franchises, serving Western food, experimenting with local flavors. For example, in the past, Pizza Hut’s other Asian outposts incorporated ingredients such as durian (a tropical fruit) and preserved egg into their pizza. And Domino’s Taiwan previously topped pizzas with boba, i.e., the tapioca balls in bubble tea. 

With Winter nearing, snake pizza is not the only surprise Hong Kong Pizza Hut has in store. For those in the region, look out for pizza inspired by a traditional clay pot rice dish featuring preserved sausages.