Top 10: What is the worst topping for a pizza?

Ken Li Yi-jin, 12, Hong Kong Tang King Po College: I was surprised to find natto – a traditional Japanese dish made from soybeans – on a pizza I ate at my classmate’s home. It was supposed to be healthy, but the smell was too strong. The slimy texture caused an unusual sensation in my mouth. It stopped me from even taking a bite. It reminded me of stinky tofu. It is surely a challenging flavour to appreciate.

Tiana Ho Muk-yan, 16, Tak Nga Secondary School: I would have said pineapple, but now that I have tasted coriander on pizza, that would be it. During a family holiday in Taiwan, my mum ordered a pizza with coriander at a restaurant. As a person who hates the stuff, I was disgusted with the smell as soon as it arrived, but I still gave it a try. It was bad, but I never had any big expectations about it!

If you could create a fusion dish combining food from Hong Kong and another place, what would it be?

Cody Yu Tsz-ying, 15, Tak Nga Secondary School: Broccoli. If you watched the Pixar movie Inside Out, you should know about it. All the common vegetables we eat as pizza toppings bring flavour to the dish and make it unique. However, broccoli is tasteless, so it can’t bring any kind of flavour, such as spicy or sweet, to the pizza.

Audrey Wong, 12, Carmel Alison Lam Foundation Secondary School: Anchovies and durian. Anchovies are a type of small, salty fish with a strong flavour which can be overpowering for some people. Durian, a fruit known for its bad smell, is not a common pizza topping, but chefs have experimented with it. However, the strong aroma and unique taste of durian might not appeal to everyone.

Venus Ho Yue-wing, 13, St Mary’s Canossian College: Pizza Hut in Taiwan recently launched intestine vermicelli as a new pizza topping. It is a popular street food on the island, but I cannot imagine the combination of sloppy vermicelli with a crunchy pizza base. The strong smell of the vermicelli would also be hard to match with the pizza. Fusion food doesn’t work all the time.

Claire Tam, 11, St Rose of Lima’s School: Having pepperoni on a pizza is like putting a hot iron straight into your mouth. I don’t think pizza goes well with spicy ingredients. It can really get on my nerves, and it’s not healthy anyway. If there’s pepperoni on my pizza, you can have it. I’m cool with skipping it.

The meals we would love to learn to cook perfectly

Sophie Lee Yee-ching, 11, Immaculate Heart of Mary College: The worst pizza topping is seafood. My mum is allergic to seafood. The consequences can be very serious, even if she has a tiny bit of it. First, she will get a skin rash, then she will have nausea, stomach cramps, and, even worse, asthma. I like to enjoy pizza with my family, but I have to protect my mum.

Hazel Lee Yin-wing, 14, Ho Lap College (Sponsored by Sik Sik Yuen): Durian is the worst topping for a pizza. While you may think it’s impossible, there is a pizza shop that actually offers such a dish. My mum decided to order it – the pizza was an unappetising yellow colour and appeared “wet”. What’s more, it smelled terrible. Durian simply does not complement the flavours of a pizza.

Sophie Ho Hoi-yan, 16, St Mary’s Canossian College: My aunt put sashimi on a pizza she made for a family reunion many years ago. The raw fish was added to the pizza right after the crust, resulting in the scorching hot, crispy layer clashing horribly with the cold slices of sashimi. The fishy smell and taste of sashimi instantly put me off and overwhelmed the pizza’s savoury taste. The contrast in taste and texture was unpleasant, so I had to give the dish a miss.

Steven Wu Tsz-kit, 13, Christ College: If you put marshmallow in a pizza, it becomes spongy and sweet. This is unlike the pizzas we all know and love. I think some people would be quite annoyed if they were expecting a savoury pizza and it contained marshmallows. They might ask: Is this the main dish or dessert?