While chefs and diners may never agree on whether or not the dish that’s served at Chicago institutions like Lou Malnati’s and Pequod’s is a pizza or a something resembling a crusty casserole, one thing’s for certain: the “Chicago pizza” that’s all the rage in Tokyo right now is definitely not pizza. It’s really just a tall crust full of molten cheese, probably belonging more to the soup/dip family than the pizza genus. But that hasn’t stopped the comfort food from winning over diners throughout Tokyo and other cities in Japan, all while dominating local Instagram feeds.

There are currently more than 20,000 posts on Instagram with the hashtag #シカゴピザ (“Chicago pizza”), and most of them contain photos of the molten cheese dish that, as Chicago Magazine notes, first popped up on menus around three years ago. Some restaurants serve the cheese with vegetables and meat on the side for dipping, like a regular old pot of fondue. An establishment called Meat & Cheese Ark is experimenting with pink-crusted cheese bowls, while other restaurants offer versions of the dish with charcoal-hued rims. This gooey cheese dish was also the subject of a recent Tastemade Japan video (see above).

Local food writer Yukari Sakamoto notes, “I think anyone from Chicago could see in a photo the difference between the real thing and the one made for being photographed, not necessarily for eating for its flavor.” But as the gooey iterations of this dish continue to infiltrate more menus around Tokyo, fans of traditional deep dish pizza can still find it on the menu at DevilCraft, a Chicago-style pizza chain that’s run by three Americans.

Considering the wild popularity of both cheese-stretch foods and Japanese baked goods on Instagram, it is perhaps only a matter of time before this dish finds its way to America. Stay tuned for more updates on Japanese-style Chicago deep dish mania as they become available.

• Chicago Pizza Is Trending in Tokyo — As Fondue [Chicago Magazine]

• All Eater IDK Coverage [E]