Japan continues to set the bar for inventive excellence in the field of KitKats.

In a way, kushi katsu is Japan’s most self-descriptive food, since it translates to “cutlet on a skewer.” On the other hand, you could say that kushi katsu is one of Japan’s most vaguely named foods, since unlike katsu curry or katsudon (cutlet bowl), which without any other descriptors refer to pork cutlets, kushi katsu restaurants serve just about anything as long as it’s deep-fried and on a stick, including meats, seafood, vegetables, and, in the case of one restaurant chain, KitKats.

Last year, Kushi Katsu Tanaka offered KitKat kushi katsu for the first time, inspired by the similarities between the Japanese pronunciation of KitKat (“Kittokatto”), “Kitto katsu” (the Japanese phrase meaning “I believe you will succeed” that turned KitKats into a popular good-luck gift), and the restaurant’s signature dish, kushi katsu. Even with Japan’s legendary love of special KitKat varieties, KitKat kushi katsu was a bold move, but it turned out to be a delicious one too, receiving extremely positive feedback from customers during their limited-time availability, so Kushi Katsu will soon be bringing the deep-fried KitKat skewers back, with some new extra-special flavors added to the mix.

The standard Kitto Kushi Katsu KitKat (180 yen [US$1.30] is returning, as is the Kitto Kushi Katsu KitKat Banana (200 yen) which tops the chocolate wafers with banana slices before frying (both are pictured above). Last year’s yogurt and corn flake KitKat skewer seems to have been a bit too out there for sweets fans’ palates, as it’s been cut from the lineup, but we doubt too many tears will be shed since it’s being replaced with the new Kitto Kushi Katsu KitKat Matcha Anko (240 yen).

This extra-Japanese dessert starts with an Adult Sweetness Rich Matcha KitKat, part of the Japanese KitKat line featuring a less sugary, more refined sweetness. That gives the green tea notes more space to play on your taste buds, where they’re joined by a covering of anko (sweet red bean paste) before the KitKat is fried, delivering a mix of bitter, sweet, and salty flavors.

There’s more adult sweetness coming in the form of the Kitto Kushi Katsu KitKat White Strawberry (240 yen). Here the base is an Adult Sweetness White Chocolate KitKat, which gets extra-fancy with fiantine (crepe dough) mixed into it, and then a sliced strawberry topping before frying, making it the first KitKat kushi katsu with a tart aspect to its flavor profile.

The standard, banana, and matcha KitKat kushi katsu all go on sale October 1, with the regular and banana versions sticking around until January 31. The matcha one will only be available until December 8, after which it hands off the deep-fried baton to the white chocolate strawberry KitKat kushi katsu, which will be on sale from December 9 to January 31.

Related: Kushi Katsu Tanaka location list
Source, images: PR Times
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