Does Pizza Hut Japan’s new “Too Much Coriander Pizza” really contain too much coriander?

Whether you know it as coriander, cilantro or pakuchi, this is a very surprising combination.

Just the other day, Pizza Hut announced it would be bringing out a new pizza called the “Pakuchi Sugite Kusa“, which translates to “Too Much Coriander Herb“.

After checking the calendar to confirm it wasn’t an April’s Fools’ Day joke, we were keen to find out if the new offering really did contain too much coriander, so we sent our coriander-loving reporter Egawa Tasuku out to try it when it was released on 20 March.

Never one to shy away from a good serving of the herb, Egawa rubbed his hands with glee when he received the pizza and a strong waft of coriander hit his nostrils before he’d even opened the box.

Lifting the lid, he was pleasantly surprised to see the pizza closely resembled what he’d seen in the promotional images for it.

▼ Just as much coriander as advertised.

The scent of coriander was even more intense now, and as he lifted a slice to his mouth, he could see the ingredients that had been hiding beneath the mound of green — prawns covered in tomato sauce and yangnyeom sauce.

Taking a bite, Egawa was overwhelmed by the taste, and more surprisingly the texture, of coriander. It was 1,000-percent coriander, especially in terms of scent, and as he chewed, he noticed that stems were included in the mix, which only served to intensify the flavour.  

The addition of tomato sauce, yangnyeom sauce, and prawns suggested the chain was aiming to create a tom yum kung-like taste, but unfortunately, it was all drowned out by the coriander, which totally dominated the flavour profile.

▼ It’s like a pizza made just to taste coriander.

Egawa powered through all eight slices, although halfway through he felt the monotony of the herb begin to take hold so he added a dash of tabasco sauce, which gave it an exciting kick to reinvigorate his appetite.

The herb was undoubtedly strong throughout, but he absolutely loved it. Surprisingly, Pizza Hut says that “even people who don’t like coriander can enjoy the pizza“, but Egawa isn’t sure he’d go so far as to recommend it for people who dislike the herb.

Lovers of coriander, however, will definitely want to try this pizza before it disappears from the menu on 9 April — although Egawa has to admit that the aftertaste was so strong he had to brush his teeth after and he feared he might still be tasting it on his breath the next day.

He did eat all eight slices of the pizza, which is available only in a medium size (priced at 2,500 yen [US$18.89] for takeout and 2,800 yen for delivery), though, so you might fare better with just a slice or two. We just don’t know how to hold back when it comes to coriander!

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