The chain’s first-ever Japanese-style sweet pizza has some very surprising ingredients. 

In Japan, there’s a lot more to matcha than just matcha lattes. Here, you can find powdered green tea in a wide variety of settings, from traditional teahouses through to modern cafes, and now even a pizza chain, thanks to a new product from Pizza Hut Japan. Called the “Handy Melts Matcha Shiratama Kuromitsu“, with shiratama being small, chewy dumplings made from glutinous rice flour and kuromitsu being a molasses-like traditional Japanese syrup made from brown sugar, the new pizza is a collaboration with Kyoto’s long-established tea shop Gion Tsujiri.

Founded in Yamashiro Province (present-day Uji City) in 1860, Gion Tsujiri has a long history of green tea production, and for this new release it’s using its special blend of matcha to create what Pizza Hut is calling its first-ever Japanese-style sweet pizza. This dream collaboration features a crispy pizza dough infused with Gion Tsujiri matcha, while the filling consists of rich matcha paste and chewy shiratama, with mozarella cheese and cream cheese creating a sweet-salty flavour.

▼ The final element is a drizzle of kuromitsu for an extra depth of sweetness

This mish-mash of sweet and savoury is said to be the perfect marriage between Japanese and Western flavours, and it’s perfectly timed for Japan’s tsukimi moon-viewing season, with the white shiratama resembling the full moon. While the Handy Melt can be purchased on its own, priced at 790 yen (US$5.38) for delivery or 550 yen for takeout, it can also be purchased as part of a special value set, which includes the limited-edition autumn pizza “Pork Tsukimi Pizza / Mayo Chicken Tsukimi Pizza Half & Half”. Customers who purchase this pizza, which starts at 2,195 yen for a small takeout, can add the Handy Melt for just 395 yen.

To help drum up excitement for the new release, Pizza Hut will be holding a commemorative gift campaign where 30 winners will receive a special set containing five types of Gion Tsujiri single-use tea bags. To enter, simply follow Pizza Hut’s official Twitter account and retweet the campaign post or follow the chain’s official Instagram account and like the campaign post. 15 winners will be selected from each entry method, with entries accepted from 1-10 September.

Both the matcha Handy Melt and the special discount pizza set will only be available in limited quantities from 1 September to 26 October, and will end when sold out, so you’ll want to to get in quick to try it while it’s still available. Otherwise we’ll just have to wait for Gion Tsujiri’s next collaboration, which, given its past record, might just be with doughnut king Mister Donut.

Source, images: Press release
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