Pizza Hut China's hot-dog-encrusted shrimp tempura pizza, with mayonnaise

John Lehmann, a photojournalist with the Globe and Mail is travelling through China and documenting his experiences on Tumblr. An article in the Globe highlights some of the best posts so far, including this: "A hotdog encrusted shrimp tempura pizza with mayonnaise" from a Pizza Hut.

(Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: china • Food • not food • photos • pizza

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Andrew Singleton

Please tell me that’s a parody of american food.
- awjt
  
  No, it sells in China because compared to anything else you can get at Pizza Hut or KFC, it tastes good. In China, the portions are smaller, the chicken is very very lean and the food is weird. Mostly, weird-good. But occasionally, weird-bad. So, for fast food, you’re better off going to a Chinese or Korean fast food joint than to Pizza Hut or KFC. But if you go to an “American” fast food chain, get the strangest, wierdest thing you can find on the menu, because it’s most likely to be the thing that tastes the best, like this thing. My favorite fast food in China was BiBiGo. They’re in the US now, too, because they are good.
  - dioptase
    
    And the Pizza Huts menus in China recommend which wine goes with which pizza and pasta. Very classy.
fenrox

Good god! What are we doing to China?
- awjt
  
  nothing China didn’t already do to itself
- Rich Keller
  
  They caught onto that opium thing pretty quickly, so the West is trying cholesterol now.
Brainspore

Go home, Pizza Hut. You’re drunk.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Ender-Wiggin/100000885624281 Ender Wiggin
  
  …that’s probably the most appropriate use of that meme i’ve seen this week.
- niktemadur
  
  Or maybe:
  Go home China. You’re drunk.
- http://twitter.com/missshenna Lithi
  
  Heh. I was thinking of FUCK YOU PIZZA HUT YOU ARE DRUNK.
  
  If you’ve ever been to FUCK YEAH SHARKS you’ll know what I mean.
http://twitter.com/TransGeekMovie Kevin McCarthy

This puts me in mind of Budae jjigae, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budae_jjigae. Hot dogs with cheese and kim chee are awesome.
- Paul Renault
  
  Minus the cheese, you have a standard ‘steamé’ – a steamed hot dog with sauerkraut and chili powder.
  
  After having lived in Montreal, sauerkraut sans chili powder tastes weird.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OAUXAA362EXWLYVMPJOKLFB5JQ Incipient Madness

I was with them until they got to the mayonnaise.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  What would you use for the money shot sauce on a wreath of uncut cocks?
  - IndexMe
    
    Sriracha?
http://profile.yahoo.com/65CSAR3QATRNKJW4NYNB2BESZE JohnQPublic

So what happens when Chinese people smoke pot and get the munchies? Do they suddenly crave a cool plate of organic arugula?
- chaopoiesis
  
  The design logic’s impeccable – all your high péngyǒu dive for the circumferential pigs in blankets and promptly sate out, leaving you the interior shrimp.
http://twitter.com/digitalArtform Joseph Francis

The word ‘trypophobia’ comes to mind.
tobymarx (upfromthedeep.com/)

When I try to imagine those flavors combining in my mouth, I get acid reflux.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Me, too. And the reflux continues all the way to the toilet bowl.
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Drop/100000929402049 Robert Drop
    
    And the thing is, this actually looks delicious compared to some of the other Pizza Hut offerings in China, Japan and Korea.
- niktemadur
  
  Raise your bed’s headrest a couple of inches and have a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Then try again.
  - ffabian
    
    I’m curious – why would the intake of vinegar (an acid) help with acid reflux?
    - niktemadur
      
      Well that’s what they say at least – that a tbsp of ACV once or twice a day will, in a couple of weeks, reduce acid reflux considerably. And minimize allergies, and tone up the skin, etc.
    - http://www.facebook.com/stephen.muth.92 Stephen Muth
      
      because it’s a weak acid, which creates a buffer.
LinkMan

Pizza?! Now that’s what I call a taco!
http://www.facebook.com/bazimmerman Brad Zimmerman

I really, really, really hope this becomes insanely popular in China.
- http://profile.yahoo.com/65CSAR3QATRNKJW4NYNB2BESZE JohnQPublic
  
  Pizza Hut, now exporting diabetes since 2013.
Hanglyman

The mayonnaise on pizza seems to be a common thing in Japan as well.
http://www.chachich.com/mdchachi/jpizza.html

That site is also notable for looking pretty much exactly the same as it did in the mid-90′s. I love it and I hope it never, ever goes away or changes.
- edgore
  
  “Ideal Taste of Sea Goodness and Mayonnaise”
  
  You, sir, have made my day.
  - niktemadur
    
    Mayo goes REALLY well with fish, a standard combo on fish tacos. Now that I think about it, isn’t tartar sauce basically mayo with dill?
    
    But damn, when I call my favorite pizza parlor in town, they know who it’s for, my invention with their ingredients:
    Garlic shrimp, chunk of bacon, onion, fresh basil and extra tomato sauce.
    Once home, I do the parmesan and cracked peppers, but also Worcester sauce and just a few drops of Gourmet Dave’s Naga Jolokia, holy crap!
    - Hanglyman
      
      Your pizza place has garlic shrimp? I’m so envious right now.
      - niktemadur
        
        It’s an Italian & Seafood place.
        Since a classic comfort food is shrimp wrapped in bacon, and bacon goes great with pizza, one day the ol’ light bulb went on in my head and asked them to deconstruct it and put it on a pizza with onions. The idea of fresh basil and extra tomato sauce came later.
        Then one day I called for takeout and the guy on the phone asked “Wanna make it garlic shrimp?” And that was it, checkmate forever.
    - edgore
      
      I’m not going to lie to you niktemadur. That sounds crazy delicious.
      - niktemadur
        
        I’ve told friends about it, and a few of them just can’t picture shrimp on their pizza, they give me a puzzled look. I pity the fools.
      - A_Portlander
        
        When I was growing up in Southern California in the 80s, “eating out” with my parents meant the Marie Callender’s restaurant chain. The menu was more diverse back then, and in some locations, the bar/bistro section had a pizza menu. This included a seafood pizza with shrimp, crab, and lobster, and it was magnificent. I haven’t had it in twenty years, and it’s still my “desert island” food.
- SumAnon
  
  I’m guessing the above is indeed a Pizza Hut Japan import
  - Ellen Badgley
    
    I’m not sure where the hotdog crust originated. It arrived in Thailand sometime around 2009.
    
    Japan is a Mecca of weird-but-good food mashups. Pizza with mayo, corn and hotdogs? Check. Okonomiyaki (fried cabbage pancakes) with the same? Even better. The crowning achievement is spaghetti with weinerschnitzel (tonkatsu) and British-style curry sauce, which you used to be able to get at the old Narita Airport terminal.
    - SumAnon
      
      British-style curry is everywhere in Japan, they have a few chains that specialize.
      
      While Japan does have some great food combos, they have a few ‘misses’ too. Spicy fish eggs over spaghetti. Double fermented fish. Unrefrigerated egg salad on a hotdog bun….
- http://profile.yahoo.com/6IOUGPFXUL4SCJX4UQFBZA75RA CliffordS
  
  Japanese mayonnaise, Kewpie, is pretty good stuff. I actually prefer it over Hellman’s which I find too sweet.
  - noah django
    
    oh, we have that at work! but you know, I’ve never really tried it. the only thing we use it for is a little “kiss” over each piece of one specific sushi roll we make. so technically I’ve ingested it, but there’s too many other flavors going on for me to isolate it. I oughta put it on a cracker and see what’s up, huh?
    - SumAnon
      
      It’s got more spices and vinegar in it, so it’s less rich and more tangy.
http://www.facebook.com/postelwait Cameron Postelwait

i’m also a fan of McDonald’s in China’s breakfast hotdog: http://wuxiexpat.blogspot.com/2012/11/creator-of-mcdonalds-breakfast-hot-dog.html
http://vinnietesla.com/ Vinnie Tesla

God help me, that looks kind of appealing.
- blueelm
  
  It would definitely make me sick, it’s full of things that really do make me accutely ill… but I’d try it once anyway just to see.
duncancreamer

Not Pizza
http://www.facebook.com/tekvax Dan Braun

that’s just crazy!!
grimc

One large Circle Jerk, please.
peregrinus

The chef gets his inspiration from his night-time endoscopy studies.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1287511372 Jamie DiBattista

Sometimes I think that China’s cuisine was invented by Oscar The Grouch.
Andrew Singleton

Oh look Mike’s Weird Pizza just outdid itself.
parfae

USA! USA!

Oh, sorry, I got confused.
Guido

Fractal heart attack!
Pea Hix

there’s a whole series of ads for variations on this type of pizza on youtube… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RDXZ6MV6hM
Fantome_NR

I’d hit it.
parfae

Also worth noting - http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/04/a-taste-of-the-cheeseburger-crown-crust-pizza-from-pizza-hut-in-the-middle-east.html
http://profile.yahoo.com/65CSAR3QATRNKJW4NYNB2BESZE JohnQPublic

a bunch of dog penises. There. You can’t not see it now.
niktemadur

You know what they put on french fries in Holland instead of ketchup? Mayonnaise, they fuckin’ drown ‘em in that shit.

As for the wrapped hot dogs, replace and alternate with andouille and Spanish chorizo, then we’re talking!
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BOOM27DBLMZQIJVK4BQLE7K5YA Nagurski
  
  Never met this thing in person, but the ‘hotdogs’ look more like typical Chinese style sausage, which have a tasty spice mixture and lovely globs of fat.
  - niktemadur
    
    Right, the sausage that’s sometimes sliced on fried rice.
    Sounds good to me, then!
http://www.facebook.com/justin.eiynck Justin S. Optional

anybody see the guy holding his cock in the upper right hand corner?
thompson

I guess this is what China thinks of us.
http://twitter.com/writebastard Ian Wood

That. Is. Not. Pizza.

I don’t care what hut it’s from.
- http://fallsastar.com Crashproof
  
  Jabba.
oldtaku

I’ve got just two words: Tentacle Rape
- niktemadur
  
  Tentacle Rape to the arteries.
blueelm

Gimme Pizza. P. I. Z. Z. A.
dave moore

Oh Jesus…I think there’s Pineapple on it!! That’s just disgusting!!!
Lyle Hopwood

That looks awesome! I love sausage rolls (the things the picture is calling hot dogs) and tempura. I have all the ingredients to cook one of my own, but I bought a whole bunch of stuff for Goan beef vindaloo with vinegar and I really ought to stick to my plan….maybe tomorrow?
Thebes42

I’m sure even it must be healthier than the average American fast food offering.
peter doolan

in celebration of the 2010 world cup, pizza hut thailand rolled out this “big match” pizza, a rectangular football field with team france as various seafood vs. team england as sausage and peppers, lines of play demarcated with mayonaise
Guest

edit: take all my comments or leave it. deleted
Nash Rambler

SHUT UP YOU ARE ALL WRONG AND SECRETLY WANT TO EAT THIS THING JUST LIKE I DO.
http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

Ia Ia Shub Niggurath! Ia Ia Cthulhu fhtagn!
brettburton

Pizza in Pizza Hut and most of mainline China (from what I was able to sample) is a very weird affair. Even traditional cheese pizza is made with sauce that is pretty much just ketchup. They haven’t mastered tomato sauce yet, and it doesn’t seem like they aren’t even trying to. Pizza Hut is a pretty fancy establishment in China. It’s expensive and you have to wait to be seated. The one I went to in Shanghai was two floors.
Lurking_Grue

Wow! I didn’t know the Ninja Turtles moved to China!
Ty_MY

Surprised no one from Asia commented. Pizza Hut in Asia has been doing this for years. Every few weeks/months, the TV ads come on to advertise some new limited-time “strange” pizza creation.

It seems to be their strategy to always have something new on the menu, to to keep the curious customers coming back.

I guess after a while, there’s only so many “new” pizzas you can create, and more outlandish combinations come up.
sirpuddingfoot

I was thinking this was a repeat from 6 years ago, but I guess I didn’t bump into it here: http://www.japanprobe.com/2007/07/17/pizza-hut-japan-has-created-a-monster/
ErinZ

NEED IN MAH LIFE!
http://www.facebook.com/elder.newman.1 Matt Newman

Ive actually had pizza very similar to this in Japan. Quite tasty.