Pizza Hut China releases ‘Goblin’ pizza topped with a deep-fried frog

Pizza, as most in NZ know it - with no frogs. Photo/File

Months after Pizza Hut in New Zealand offered customers a taste of the past with the brief return of their all-you-can-eat buffet, the brand has hopped into controversy with their offering in another market.

The internet has reacted in shock after Pizza Hut China unveiled a pizza topped with an entire deep-fried frog.

Ribbit.

Global food trends watcher David Henkes shared an image of the ‘Goblin’ pizza to Twitter.

The image, originally posted to Chinese social media site Weibo, shows the breaded amphibian lying on top of a bed of coriander and red sauce, complete with two large eyes made from a hardboiled egg and olive slices.

“In proof that other countries/cultures prefer different types of proteins, Pizza Hut is offering a pizza topped with a frog for a limited time offer in China - and frog is trending,” Henkes wrote.

The Straits Times report that the pizza was created as a collaboration with tech giant Tencent to promote its mobile game Dungeon And Fighter and inspired by one of its characters.

Reaction online was swift, with one person responding: “Someone call Gordon Ramsay! This is a culinary crime scene”.

Weibo users joked that it might upset some.

“Who will send it to the Italians?”, one wrote, while another tagged the Italian embassy in China and asked them to “send troops”.

The strength of the response only deepened when a photo was shared of the actual dish as it is presented to consumers.

Pizza fans were shocked.

“This is pizza felony,” one wrote.

“Might be pizza death row,” another responded.

“Toad in a whole damn pizza,” one wit remarked.

Others could not help but comment on the expired frog’s muscular hindquarters, noting that the pond hopper was “cheeked up”.

Others had more practical, culinary concerns and one wrote: “I’m more upset about the olives”.