[How] Do You Garnish Your Hot Dog?

[Anna N]

Like Tri2Cook I am by no means a food snob but if a hotdog ever lands on my plate I will shroud it with paper napkins and hope somebody gives it a decent burial. If I never see or smell another hotdog it will still be too soon. I spent almost 2 years eating almost nothing but hot dogs. Anyone who found themselves in similar circumstances would completely understand. Polish sausage on a bun, bratwurst on a bun...... a whole different story.

[gfweb]

One of my favorite sandwiches is two weiners, cooked, sliced right down the middle to form long planks, and then laid carefully side by side on a piece of sandwich bread smeared with plenty of mayo, topped with a couple of tomato slices and another piece of sandwich bread smeared with plenty of mayo.

And why not?

The flavor profile of your everyday weiner is very similar to baloney and nobody finds a mayo and baloney sandwich to be odd.

 

I love mayo. I love hot dogs. I love tomatoes.

 

But together sounds questionable.

[gfweb]

Blackened dog with yellow mustard. Perhaps relish or kraut.

[dcarch]

I love mayo. I love hot dogs. I love tomatoes.

 

But together sounds questionable.

 

Really?

 

Here is one. Hot dogs, with tomatoes, mayo, mustard and ketchup.

 

dcarch

 

[gfweb]

Exactly my point. And wheres the roll????

I tend to spiral cut my dogs on a skewer and then quick cook on the gas burner. Great char too.

[cakewalk]

dcarch, that looks like a beach umbrella. Pretty, but I wouldn't eat it!

 

There's always something new to learn here. That grape jelly thing, my goodness, when I first read it I thought it was a joke. As for mayo with hot dogs, and mayo with baloney, well, in this part of the world (NYC) it's known as "goyishe." Kind of like Woody Allen's amazement at roast beef on white bread with mayo. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

To each his own. If you enjoy it, eat it.

[GlorifiedRice]

I bake my hot dogs till they get puffy and crisp. I do not understand boiling hot dogs. Doesnt that dilute the flavor?  Same with boiling Ribs

[FauxPas]

Sonoran Dogs are the best! Bacon-wrapped weiner in a bolillo bun with beans and various mixes of avocado, mayo, tomatoes, onions, hot sauce or hot peppers, salsa verde. Maybe a bit of cheese. Here are a couple of versions - from Serious Eats or from Everyday Southwest. 

 

If we make quick dogs at home with regular buns, I like to toast the buns and melt a bit of cheese on them and then add sweet pickles (bread & butter or Yum-Yums) and lots of regular mustard. 

 

We occasionally have a dog at Costco if we are hungry and in a hurry. I love that they have sauerkraut, sometimes that's all I use. 

[TicTac]

Though we rarely eat dogs due to their (often) unknown contents, when we do, we found this brand of amazing organic ketchup and mustard (Simply Organic), along with some good sauerkraut, sometimes grilled onions, or pickled ramps/hot peppers.

[radtek]

I much prefer a crusty roll and a charcoal grilled snappy cased hot dog. Or a brat or kielbassa with some sauerkraut and grilled onions and hot mustard.

 

Problem with dressing up a hot-dog is that it is a one-handed type of convenience food IMO. Mustard/ketchup, a bit of onion, a few flakes of relish... Maybe a smear of chili. But loading one up I have to eat my dog with a fork on a plate or have it down the front of my shirt and that just seems unnatural to me.

[rlibkind]

Sorry, but mini hot dogs with bbq sauce and grape jelly sounds like something only a Klingon would love. On what planet is that a favorite app?.

I cook a variation of this and can attest that they are gobbled up at parties:

Cook plain yellow mustard (nothing fancier, please) with an equal amount of currant jelly over gentle heat, stirring to avoid burning, until they combine and the harsh mustard aroma dissipates. Add cocktail franks and heat, and place on warming plate to serve (toothpicks).

I am told this is the foie gras of Vulcan, the planet's one exception to veganism.

[rlibkind]

Like hot dog maven John Fox, I avoid "haute" dogs, and also consider ketchup an abomination, but Degustibus Non Disputandum..

That's said my fav garnishes:

Hot works (mustard, hot relish, kraut).

Chili Dogs (mustard and NJ/Greek style sauce, applied sparingly, plus mustard, sometimes adding a little raw onion.).

NJ Italian dog (deep fried then served in pizza bread roll with fried onions, peppers, potatoes.

While I can appreciate the artistry and appeal of the classic Chicago dog, it's too over the top for me.

I eat the Italian dog add-ons as if they are side dishes, because I want the flavor of the hot dog to come thru. Although I'll eat almost any dog offered my favorite brands and styles:

Best Provisions natural casing all-beef kosher style and similar franks from Sabrett and Dietz & Watson

German style franks from various manufacturers, the more local the better.

Usinger all-beef

Edited May 31, 2015 by rlibkind (log)

[Jaymes]

I love mayo. I love hot dogs. I love tomatoes.

 

But together sounds questionable.

What can I say - I'm just a 'life on the edge' kinda gal.

[heidih]

Maybe once a year a steamed or poached dog on a lightly toasted bun. Finely chopped onion and sweet pickle relish on bun, then dog, then ballpark mustard.

 

I do like our LA street dog - bacon wrapped version. Cooked on a flat griddle (sheet pan over sterno usually) until bacon is crisp. Bun is opened and warmed on griddle. Topped with everything:  griddled onions, mustard, catsup, and mayo with a griddled whole jalapeno set on top. 

[IndyRob]

Having grown up in Detroit, I am obliged to chastise you all for not embracing the Detroit Coney Dog in all of its beef heart and cumin chili glory.  Just that, some chopped onion, and yellow mustard, and you are in hot dog heaven.  Ketchup would be a capitol offense.

 

However, since I've moved away, I've discovered that there are things that aren't Coney dogs or Sicilian pizza.  Perhaps most significantly, hot dogs that actually taste good in their own right.  It's really a crime to cover some of these up with a rather dubious supporting cast.  Just some good spicy mustard please.

 

But it's such an individual thing.  And something that lends itself to whims of the moment.  A bacon wrapped dog could be equally at home with some coleslaw or Big Mac type sauce.  A nice variation I got from a hot dog cart was a Nacho Dog with jalapenos and cheese sauce (made better by roasting the jalapenos and adding to the sauce).

 

The hot dog is the perfect food for riffing.  You can boil it, fry it, grill it, deep fry it, steam it, bake it, or microwave it.  One of the things I like to do is seal a utility dog in some pizza dough and deep fry it.  Then cut it open and go to town with the extras.

 

I think if I ever had a hot dog party there would be a big buffet table of options.

Edited June 1, 2015 by IndyRob (log)

[FauxPas]

The hot dog is the perfect food for riffing.  You can boil it, fry it, grill it, deep fry it, steam it, bake it, or microwave it.  One of the things I like to do is seal a utility dog in some pizza dough and deep fry it.  Then cut it open and go to town with the extras.

 

I think if I ever had a hot dog party there would be a big buffet table of options.

 

Good comment. Hot dogs are all over the place with add-ons, aren't they? 

 

I tried JapaDog in Vancouver when their food carts first became popular there. Way too salty for my taste, but I think they are still popular. And we tried Puka Dog on Kauai, which I really wanted to like ( Lilikoi mustard sounds so lovely), but I found their sauces and relishes were way too sweet. But Puka Dog was kind of original in the way they worked the buns. 

 

And I'm sure there are tons of others! 

Edited June 1, 2015 by FauxPas (log)

[huiray]

I commonly garnish my hot dogs with ramen or noodles. (or is that "I use the hot dogs as garnish for my ramen or noodles") :-)

Like here.  Or here.  (The ones used in both happened to be Dietz & Watson natural casing dogs but I've used other brands as well including Nathans etc in similar ways)

 

I've always found the intense disputes about ketchup/no-ketchup quite amazing.  People even come to blows over it.  I myself eat hot dogs (in the usual conventional way with a long bun &etc) with all sorts of toppings depending on my mood and what's offered to me.  Ketchup, relish, pickles, chili, onions, mustard, etc.  OK, I might not automatically go for mayo or cheeze whiz myself but if handed one in a social setting I would not refuse to eat it.

 

Would hot dogs in pastry count in this topic? After all, what one puts ON a Pig in a Blanket (if anything) before you eat it would fall under the rubric of "How do you garnish your hot dog"...

[demiglace]

Steamies were popular in Quebec-might still be. Steamed hot dog and bun..all dressed was mustard and relish with coleslaw on top. I loved raw onions on mine. When I have them now I grill them, toast the bun and put mustard and relish on them. Don't eat them often though.

[rotuts]

im very standard : very fresh 'ordinary' buns, micro's a bit to heat up  (   )  i like them soft and steamy

 

good quality dogs w casing that 'snaps'

 

Yellow mustard, and chopped red onions   lots of those two

 

if out of Yellow, a bit of dijon.

[Kerry Beal]

I prefer my hotdogs in New England Style buns (hard to get your hands on where I live), dressed with yellow mustard and lots of sweet pickle relish - prefer Strub's.

Edited June 1, 2015 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Toliver]

As a kid, I ate hot dogs with ketchup. Unless my dad brought home mustard dogs from Der Wienerschnitzel, the hot dog fast food chain.

As an adult, I still eat hot dogs with ketchup, sometimes a little mustard gets added.

And can we find some leftover Nobel prize to give to the inventor of Dill Pickle Relish? It's not sweet, it's sour. A great condiment to add to just about anything that needs some chopped up pickle.

Brats, however, I always top with mustard and maybe some sauteed onions and green bell peppers.

[Kim Shook]

I adore hot dogs and can enjoy them any which way.  My only request is that no poultry or cereal fillers invade it.  Only beef or pork or a mixture of them, please.  My favorite dog is a Carolina dog with no onions (chili, mustard and slaw).  But I like cheese or sauerkraut, too.  Relish and mustard?  Sure.  Mustard only? Yup.  Sans bun, sliced up for Beanie Weenie?  Please!  I love them charred on a grill or a frying pan, but boiled is ok, too.  Love the snap of natural casings, but Ball Park is fine.  I tend to brush mine with bottled BBQ sauce just before I take them off the grill.  Ketchup?  Not my favorite, but I don't object.

 

Oh, and I love those jelly and BBQ sauce cocktail weenies, too.  

[Beebs]

Japanese Kewpie mayo & tonkatsu sauce on a smoky.

 

Unless it's a cheap junky IKEA or Costco dog, in which case ketchup, yellow mustard, & neon green relish.

[Darienne]

Red Hots, grilled until burnt, on the cheapest fluffy type bun, with cheap yellow mustard, French's with sweet relish.  Kettle potato chips too please.

 

DH likes his with Dijon mustard and sour pickle relish, but what does he know?

[Ttogull]

For me, hot dogs are just an excuse to eat Lottie's mustard. Each bite is a lottery. One might be normal mustard; the next might turn on the sweat. Wonderful stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Lotties-Caribbean-Sunrise-Habanero-Mustard/dp/B00KQUTL0E

If I have ketchup, I like Melinda's Naga Jolokia ketchup.