Pizza Hut Introduces New Snake Pizza Among Other Adventurous Menu Items

Pizza Hut is collaborating with a venerable Hong Kong establishment to modernize a traditional delicacy: snake on a pizza.

This inventive item brings together shredded snake meat, black mushrooms, and Chinese dried ham — staple elements of a bona fide snake stew. The idea forms part of the Hong Kong franchise’s strategy to stir interest on the internet.

Snake stew is a time-honored indulgence for many food enthusiasts in Hong Kong and southern China, particularly enjoyed during the winter. As per a well-known Cantonese adage, snake is best consumed “when the autumn wind begins to blow,” a period when snakes have bulked up for their impending hibernation.

Snake meat is traditionally considered to have health benefits, with many attributing it to enhanced skin health and body-warming properties. This snake-based culinary tradition also extends to other regions in Southeast Asia, like Vietnam and Thailand. Here, snake farming for food is a common practice, underpinning a rich food culture that draws from this unique ingredient.

Snake pizza, which is available until Nov. 22, isn’t the only culturally inspired menu addition Pizza Hut’s Hong Kong branches are cooking up.

One forthcoming item is a pizza that integrates Chinese preserved sausages, a central element of a claypot rice dish cherished by Hong Kong locals during chillier seasons.

This isn’t the first instance of Asian branches of the American-originated franchise embracing local food customs. Pizza Hut in Taiwan has previously launched pizzas featuring durian, pig blood curds, and preserved eggs, all significant components of the region’s culinary tradition. Over in Japan, Pizza Hut introduced a Tonkotsu ramen-topped pizza.

The trend of incorporating local customs into pizza also goes beyond Pizza Hut. Domino’s in Taiwan stirred up interest by placing boba — the sweet tapioca pearls typical in bubble tea — on its pizzas three years ago, paying homage to the local dessert beverage that’s now a global phenomenon.

Only time will tell if snake pizza or something else unusual will ever be released in the United States.