Matsuya's Official X Announces October 20 Release of "Gorochiki Chili Sauce Set Meal" With 8 Emoji

At 6:00 p.m. on October 16, Matsuya’s official X account (@matsuya_foods) posted introducing the new product “Gorochiki Chili Sauce Set Meal,” set to launch on October 20. The set meal is priced at 990 yen and is positioned as a Chinese-style take on Matsuya’s classic “Gorochiki” series. The product had already been announced in the official notice released the previous day, October 15, so this post serves as a pre-launch introduction.

The text of the post reads as follows.

“Gorochiki Chili Sauce Set Meal” goes on sale October 20 (Tue) at 10:00🎉

Chunky chicken coated in our special chili sauce with spicy doubanjiang🌶 makes the rice disappear fast🍚💨💨💨

Be sure to give it a try this time around📷 ✨

The Announcement Image: A Chinese-style Iron Pot, Egg Mellows the Spice

The image attached to the post has a Chinese-style design built around red. On a bed of jiggly egg set in an iron pot sits chunky chicken coated in glossy red chili sauce, garnished with scallion. The upper left reads “Chunky chicken galore! The Chinese-style Gorochiki,” and the bottom displays “Gorochiki Chili Sauce Set Meal, 990 yen” in large text.

A speech bubble in the lower right of the image offers a suggestion for how to eat it: “Wrapping the spicy doubanjiang chili sauce in the jiggly egg mellows the flavor!” The image itself conveys that this is a dish where the spiciness of the doubanjiang and chili sauce is softened by wrapping it in egg. A badge reading “On sale 10/20 (Tue) 10:00” is also included.

The Post Rephrases the Official Notice — Only One Line Is Newly Written

Within the post, the product name “Gorochiki Chili Sauce Set Meal” and the release date and time, “October 20 (Tue) at 10:00,” match what was stated in the official notice issued the previous day, the 15th. “Spicy doubanjiang” and “coated in our special chili sauce” are also a shortened rephrasing of the notice’s wording, “spicy doubanjiang and sweet-and-sour chili sauce intertwine.” “Chunky chicken” corresponds to the part of the notice describing it as “Matsuya’s classic chunky chicken” and “packed with juicy chunks of chicken.”

The one line in the post that could be called newly written is “makes the rice disappear fast,” but even this phrasing isn’t new. The official account has used the same expression in past taste-test reports — a September 8 post read “a dish that makes the rice disappear fast,” and a July 15 post read “a flavor that makes the rice disappear fast,” both times with “rice” written in kanji. This time, “rice” is written in hiragana.

Eight Emoji, More Than the Usual Pre-Launch Announcement

What differs from the usual in this post is the number of emoji. The post uses eight in total: 🎉, 🌶, 🍚, three 💨, 📷, and ✨. In pre-launch announcement posts of the same format over the past six months, the number of emoji mostly stayed at two to four.

The difference stands out especially in the line that serves as the catchphrase conveying the product’s appeal. In past announcements of the same type, this line either had no emoji or at most one, whereas this time five appear in the same spot: “spicy doubanjiang🌶” and “makes the rice disappear fast🍚💨💨💨.” Using the same emoji (💨) three times in a row is not seen in pre-launch announcements of the same type over the past six months.

“Gorochiki,” Running Since 2016, Has Had a Chili Sauce Version Before

“Gorochiki” is one of Matsuya’s long-running series, which began with a curry version in 2016 and has since been developed with a variety of sauces, including butter chicken, Japanese-style tartar sauce, and rich carbonara. The official account positions this release as the “long-awaited Chinese-style version.”

Matsuya also sold a chili sauce dish using doubanjiang once before, in March 2019: the “Chunky Chicken Chili Sauce Set Meal” (650 yen at the time). This time’s “Gorochiki Chili Sauce Set Meal” is a different product — it pairs the dish with egg and is priced differently. As a dish featuring chunky chicken in a doubanjiang-based chili sauce, this marks its first appearance since 2019.