Spoiler alert: Your taste buds aren’t ready for this convenience store katsu.

One of the great things about convenience stores is their wide variety of hot food, giving us a simple way to pick up a snack that’s easy to eat while on the go. Not all the hot food is that easy to eat, though, as we recently found out when we stumbled upon 7-Eleven’s “Super Spicy! Taiwan Mince Cutlet”, which practically burnt the taste buds off our tongue with a level of spiciness we weren’t expecting.

Things started off easy, as we spotted the fried cutlet in the hot food display and were instantly drawn to its fiery red appearance. As ardent spice lovers who’ve rarely been challenged by self-proclaimed “super spicy” products before, we casually picked one up to find out how mild it would be, but when we took a bite we immediately swallowed our pride.

From that very first bite, it felt like a flame had been ignited on the tip of our tongue, and the fire quickly spread to cover the entire palate, burning with an intensity that never let up. Surprisingly, it wasn’t just the fried coating that delivered the spicy hit, as the heat came from inside the minced-meat filling as well, giving us double the burn, for twice as long.

▼ Amidst the pain, our taste buds battled against the heat to assess the flavour, because for us, that’s the true marker for a really good hot product.

As it turns out, the flavour was one of the highlights – the filling contained a generous amount of juicy meat, with garlic chives adding an extra element of taste to make the whole thing even more delicious. Perhaps because of the minced meat and garlic chives, the cutlet had a vaguely gyoza-like flavour. Either way, both the taste and the heat were excellent, especially when combined with the wonderfully crispy coating, which crunched satisfyingly between the teeth with every bite.

▼ However, there was one thing that eluded us: what exactly makes it “Taiwan”?

We weren’t sure what the “Taiwan” in “Taiwan Mince Cutlet” was referring to, but after checking 7-Eleven Japan’s official site, we learned that the filling is “Taiwan Minchi” (“Taiwan Mince”) a spicy seasoned minced meat originating in Nagoya. So, in the end, the “Taiwan” in the name refers to the spicy and savoury minced meat filling used in dishes like Taiwan ramen from Nagoya’s famous Misen restaurant.

That’s also why it’s called a “minchi cutlet” rather than “menchi katsu”, which is the usual term for a Japanese-style minced-meat cutlet. It’s also the reason why the filling contains garlic chives, which you don’t normally find in a Japanese-style menchi katsu.

What started out as a chance encounter turned into an exciting journey of discovery, as we not only found out that the cutlet was hotter than any other convenience-store hot food we can remember trying, but also that its name pays homage to the “Taiwan” mince associated with Nagoya’s famed local food culture.

Priced at 189 yen (US$1.18), the Super Spicy! Taiwan Mince Cutlet really does live up to its name, so be sure to stop by your local 7-Eleven soon if you’re game enough to try it, as it’s only available for a limited time.

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