Domino’s Japan now sells…pizza ears?

Shining a spotlight on a pizza part that’s usually unloved and discarded.

Domino’s Japan is always thinking outside the box when it comes to new limited-edition creations, and its latest offering is a great example of that, as it shines a spotlight on “pizza ears“.

While this might sound odd, in Japanese the edge of things like bread, cloth and pizzas are called “mimi” or “ears“, which makes sense, given that ears are on the edge of the face. However, as an everyday term, the idea of “pizza ears” doesn’t sound quite as cute or exciting to locals, so the chain has decided to jazz things up by referring to their new product as “Cheese Twist Breads“.

▼ The new Cheese Twist Breads are priced from 250 yen (US$1.66) for a set of two.

However you refer to them, the fact remains that these are pizza crusts, with 100-percent mozzarella cheese added for extra flavour. According to Domino’s, the new product aims to show customers just how good pizza crusts can be by making them the star of the show, and the new twists will be available as special crusts for pizzas on the menu as well, with three options to choose from — the Cheese’n Roll Twist, the Cheddar Bacon Twist and the 5 Cheese Twist.

Released on 18 March, we purchased a set of four Twisted Breads with a tomato dipping sauce for 450 yen, and a Cheese’n Roll Twist on an American Pizza, which cost 390 yen in addition to the 1,580 yen price of the pizza, bringing our total to 2,420 yen.

When the delivery arrived, we delved into the pizza ears first, and they looked so tasty that we almost forgot they were actually pizza crusts, which are often left by the wayside in favour of the pizza topping sections.

Plucking one out for a taste, we found that these twisted breads contained more than just cheese, as they’re also coated with garlic butter.

If pizza crusts always contained cheese and garlic butter we’d never leave them behind in the box, and that’s an assumption Domino’s is banking on by adding them to actual pizzas as well.

▼ We wanted to compare the two crusts so we tore the “ear” off the pizza to try it on its own.

Looking at the pizza crust and twisted bread together showed they both contained the same cheese and garlic butter components, but the twisted bread (top in the image below) was larger and crustier by comparison.

As for the cross section, there wasn’t much difference here, but the twisted bread was rounder with more of a refined finish, which is understandable, given that it’s a standalone product.

So what about the taste? Well, the twisted bread was delicious but salty, with the strong salinity coming from the garlic butter oil. The saltiness balanced itself out when combined with the dipping sauce, so if you’re thinking of trying these, we highly recommend ordering the set with sauce.

On the other hand, the Cheese’n Roll Twist from the pizza had an equally strong and salty taste from the garlic butter oil, but it was perfect when eaten with the pizza and its toppings.

We’re happy to say that both the standalone Twist and the twisted pizza crust tasted identical so whichever way you choose to eat them, you’ll be enjoying the same product. And yes, they do taste like ears — that is, pizza ears.

It’s a clever way to get us to fall in love with pizza crusts and appreciate the value they bring to a pizza, but like all good things, you’ll want to get in quick to try them, as they’re only available for a limited time until 26 May.

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