Like a taste of snakes on a plate? Slide up to a Pizza Hut in Hong Kong to get a slice
Lovers of authentic Neapolitan pizza, look away now because pizza topped with snake meat has slithered onto the menu at Hong Kong Pizza Hut to put a modern twist on a popular dish.
Pizza Hut Hong Kong and Ser Wong Fun – a snake restaurant in Central Hong Kong with roots dating back to 1895 – have teamed up to create the unique pizza as part of a marketing campaign, reported United States broadcaster CNN.
The pizza comes in a nine-inch serving and topped with snake meat, black mushrooms and Chinese dried ham, which are all ingredients used in a traditional Hong Kong dish of snake stew.
The pizza - which sells for HKD 186 (S$32) - gets a slathering of abalone sauce instead of tomato, and is being sold from Nov 2 until Nov 22.
Snake stew is a firm favourite among diners in Hong Kong and southern China, especially when the winter chill hits.
Snake meat is believed to possess medicinal properties such as improving the skin and keeping the body warm by improving blood circulation. The Cantonese believe the best time to eat snakes is “when the autumn wind begins to blow”, which is when the reptiles have fattened up to prepare for hibernation.
Snakes are eaten in parts of South-east Asia like Thailand and Vietnam, where farms raising serpents for the dinner table can be found.
Pizza Hut Hong Kong and Macau general manager Karen Chan told CNN that breeds like Chinese rat snakes, banded kraits, and white banded snakes were used to create a mixed snake recipe using Ser Wong Fun’s expertise.
She said: “The extraordinary snake pizzas offer a perfect balance to all flavours, both tantalising and savoury for this season.”
This is the latest gastronomical adventure Pizza Hut franchises in Asia have embarked on.
To mark Halloween this year, Pizza Hut in Taiwan released a pie topped with chicken feet.
Durian, curdled pig blood and preserved eggs have also featured in Taiwanese pizzas while those looking to kill two dishes in one bite can also order tonkotsu ramen pizza topped with chashu, an onsen egg and ramen.
In Singapore, pizza toppings have included durian, salted egg and chilli crab, but so far, never all together on the same pizza.
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