Matsuya Announces Launch of Chinese-Style 'Grilled Chicken w/ Chili Sauce Meal' With a Video

At 6:32 p.m. on October 20 — the release day of its new ‘Grilled Chicken w/ Chili Sauce Meal’ — Matsuya posted a video on its official X account announcing the start of sales. The post, coming roughly eight hours after the item went on sale at 10 a.m. that day, reiterated that it was now available in stores.

The 15-second video is set against a red Chinese-pattern background with large white text reading ‘Gorochiki’ and ‘Chili Sauce,’ with the dish itself shown in close-up at the center. On a hot iron plate, jiggly egg is spread as a base, topped with chunks of chicken thigh generously coated in doubanjiang chili sauce, finished with a sprinkle of chopped scallion on top. A white chicken character with a red comb appears on screen and cuts to a close-up partway through, before a series of product details appear one after another toward the end: ‘Chunks of chicken galore! The Chinese-style Gorochiki,’ ‘Set meal: 990 yen,’ ‘On sale from 10 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 20,’ and ‘Wrap the spicy doubanjiang chili sauce in the jiggly egg for a milder taste.’

‘Gorochiki’ Reimagined as a Chinese-Style Dish

The ‘Grilled Chicken w/ Chili Sauce Meal’ is a new menu item launched as a Chinese-style take on Matsuya’s popular Gorochiki series. It’s priced at 990 yen for the set meal, 890 yen on its own, and 790 yen without rice. The dish piles chunks of chicken thigh tossed in a spicy doubanjiang chili sauce onto a bed of jiggly egg on a hot iron plate, and Matsuya recommends wrapping it in the egg while eating for a milder flavor.

The Post’s Text Is Made Up of Four Sentences from Different Sources

The post’s text opens with, ‘The “Grilled Chicken w/ Chili Sauce Meal” is now on sale (╹◡╹),’ followed by ‘Gorochiki has arrived in a new form!’ ‘Matsuya fans, this is a must-check.’ and ‘Free rice refills with new rice when you dine in!’

Of these, ‘arrived in a new form’ is a paraphrase of a line from the official announcement dated October 15: ‘The long-awaited “Chinese-style version” of Matsuya’s hugely popular Gorochiki series is finally here.’ The closing line, ‘Free rice refills with new rice when you dine in,’ isn’t mentioned in the announcement for this menu item itself — it refers to a separate promotion, the ‘New Rice, Free Refill Fair,’ which began on September 29. Under that promotion, customers who order a set meal and dine in get free refills of rice; it is not a perk exclusive to the Grilled Chicken w/ Chili Sauce Meal.

The emoticon ‘(╹◡╹)’ at the end of the text is an expression Matsuya has repeatedly used in its ‘now on sale’ posts for new products — the same emoticon appeared in the launch posts for the Neo Kashmir Curry and Rice on October 6 and the Palak Paneer on September 21.

‘Chili Sauce × Chicken’ Is a Staple Matsuya Has Brought Back Intermittently

Matsuya has brought out set meals pairing chili sauce with chicken several times in the past. The ‘Chicken with Chili Sauce Set Meal’ first appeared in December 2014 at 630 yen (930 yen for the large serving), and it was sold again in October 2015 and October 2016 at nearly the same price and composition. The 2015 announcement noted, ‘It was sold last year and received strong support from many customers,’ suggesting it was already being treated as a revival item at that time.

In March 2019, it returned as the ‘Chunky Chicken Chili Sauce Set Meal,’ sold on its own for 650 yen, but after that the same type of menu item was absent for a long stretch. This time’s ‘Grilled Chicken w/ Chili Sauce Meal’ is a new arrangement that changes the composition into a Chinese-style version, adding jiggly egg to the doubanjiang chili sauce, and the price has also risen to 990 yen. By making the egg one of the stars of the dish, it takes a different approach from the Chicken with Chili Sauce Set Meals of the past.