ONE of the most popular fast foods around has to be the hot dog. Less expensive than hamburgers or pizzas and really quick to prepare, it’s one of those snacks loved by children and adults alike and can be made simply with a roll and a sausage or jazzed up with various types of sausage and toppings.
In honour of National Hot Dog, which is celebrated on Wednesday, July 19 in the US, chefs at Capsicum Culinary Studio, share their favourite recipes.
But first let’s take a look at the origins of this humble snack.
Most people credit Charles Feltman, a German immigrant who ran a hugely successful restaurant on Coney Island, with being the first to sell hot dogs in 1870, but other contenders exist, including a Bavarian immigrant named Anton Feuchtwanger who sold hot sausages on the streets of St Louis and included a roll to prevent customers them from burning their fingers.
As for the name “hot dog”, there are several stories around that as well, the most common being the name was created by students at Yale University in the 1890s who referred to the wagons selling hot sausages in buns outside their dorms as “dog wagons” and the food as “hot dogs”.
STICKY HOT DOGS
Ingredients
- 6 sausages
- 2 Tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 6 hot dog rolls
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- Large pinch brown sugar
- 2 tsp wine or cider vinegar
Method
- Heat oven to 200°C. Place the sausages in a non-stick baking tray and roast for 20 mins.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onions and mustard seeds together for 10-15 mins until soft and golden.
- Remove the sausages and brush with maple syrup.
- Place the rolls onto the same baking tray and return to the oven until the sausages are dark, shiny and cooked through (5 minutes).
- Stir the mustard, sugar and vinegar into the onions until the sugar has melted.
- Cut the rolls open across the top, add a layer of rocket leaves, followed by a sausage and then spoon over the mustardy onions before devouring.
HOT HOT DOGS
Ingredients
- 6 chorizo sausages
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 shallots, peeled and sliced lengthways
- 3 Tbsp sherry vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 6 hot dog rolls
- 3 tomatoes, finely chopped
- 50g feta, crumbled
For the chimichurri
- 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 medium red chilli, finely chopped,
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
- Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
- Small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
- 50ml extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 Tbsp
Method
- For the chimichurri, combine the ingredients in a bowl with ½ tsp salt and set aside.
- Place the sausages in an oven tray and grill under medium-high heat for 12-15 minutes.
- Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the shallots for 10-15 mins until soft and starting to brown. Stir in the vinegar and honey and cook for a few minutes until sticky.
- Warm the hot dog rolls under the grill and cut the cooked sausages in half lengthways.
- Place a sausage in each roll then top with a big spoonful of the chimichurri, chopped tomato, feta and sticky shallots. If you like you dogs really, really hot you can add a few more slices of red chilli.
HOISIN HOT DOGS
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp sriracha
- 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 6 sausages
- 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
- 6 hot dog rolls
- ¼ cucumber, thinly sliced
- 4 spring onions, sliced
Method
- Mix the sriracha with the mayonnaise.
- Brush the sausages with the hoisin sauce and cook under a medium-high grill until cooked (12-15 minutes).
- Cut the rolls open across the top and fill each with a sausage and spoon over some extra hoisin sauce.
- Top with the cucumber, sriracha mayonnaise mix and spring onions.
HOT DOG WITH MEXICAN CORN SALAD, PARMESAN AND POTATO STICKS
Ingredients
- 6 hot dog sausages
- 6 hot dog rolls
- 1 can of whole kernel corn
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ red capsicum, finely chopped
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- ½ avocado, chopped
- ½ cup feta, diced
- 6 spring onions, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, diced
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
Method
- Heat the oil in a frying pan.
- Drain and rinse the corn. Add the corn to the pan and wait for the kernels to pop, around 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and cool down.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl, add the red capsicum, red onion, avocado, feta, spring onion and jalapeño and the corn and the lime juice. Mix together.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, sour cream and spices. Toss this dressing over the salad and mix well until all the ingredients are lightly coated with dressing.
- Heat the hot dog sausages in a pot of boiling water or in the microwave. Slice each roll lengthways across the top and insert the sausage.
- Top with the salad, a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and garnish with potato sticks.
