Check Out Il Panzerotto in Daikanyama for the Ultimate Italian Snack

Photographs of cheese dripping deliciously from the seams of freshly fried bread have been showing up on lots of Instagram stories recently. This is ‘panzerotto’, a deep-fried food in which pizza dough is stuffed with a filling such as cheese, dry-cured ham, or salmon. A kind of family-style cooking from the Italian region of Apulia, which faces the Mediterranean Sea, panzerotto is appreciated as a convenient snack that can be held in one hand. The closest Japanese equivalent is perhaps onigiri (rice ball wrapped in nori seaweed, with flavoring inside).

Authentic panzerotto has arrived in Japan thanks to the opening of Il Panzerotto near the Daikanyama Station. Although it sounds like it would be a greasy food, the chefs have developed their own panzerotto technique for yielding a smooth, light texture. In this arrangement, milk is mixed into the dough, allowed to rise for two days, and then formed into thin sheets for deep-frying. Prepared in sizes about 11 cm x 17 cm (4½ in. x 6½ in.), it’s a scrumptious snack that doesn’t lie heavily on the stomach afterwards.

‘Classico’, the most popular, is filled with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, seasoned with oregano. The result? A distinctive, thoroughly cheesy texture embedded in resilient dough with a touch of salt, enormously popular. The hottest new Italian snack shop—you must check it out!