Chicago Style Hot Dog

[Keith Talent]

Anyone have any idea where to get anauthentic Chicago Style Hot Dog (mmmm, eyeballs & hooves) in this town? Food Network is good for very little other than encouraging a hatred of its' various "personalities" (yeah, I'm aware that 99% of the personalties on display consist of various degrees of irritaing), but it did make me aware of a culinary treat I've neer had. Thanks Bobby Rivers! The Chicago style hot dog consists of the weiner (duh) mustard, sauekraut, tomatoes (sliced, not chopped), friend onions (maybe, I forget), pickles, something called sport peppers (which I've found for sale via google), and the key ingredient (I suspect, being that I haven't tried one yet) celery salt.

Yeah, it sounds like something you could do at home, but a) do I really want that boiled hotdog smell permeating my curtains, and more importantly b) I never seen to get proportions right on this type of project. I suspect there is a perfect ratio between the various toppings that would be difficult to recreate without years experience in construction.

[nwyles]

At the risk of over simplifying this - I would think that Hot Dog Johnnie's would be the only place in this town to have anything that could possibly resemble that.

The only hot dogs that I really crave every once in a while is at the Red Onion - the only problem, mine , not theirs, is in my enthusiasm to eat this, I always chomp down on a piece of the foil paper that they wrap those things in - you know, that funny feeling you get when foil and fillings connect !

[viaChgo]

Actually there's no sauerkraut on a Chicago-style & the onions are raw. And under no circumstances should there be ketchup! Just:

-mustard

-relish

-chopped raw onions

-tomato wedge

-pickle spear

-sport peppers

-celery salt

Good luck with your search! If all else fails, you can have them FedEx'd from Portillo's.

[Keith Talent]

The problem is, I don't want something that resembles it, I want the real deal. Hell, we do good Peking Duck, New York Cheesecake, Seattle Coffee, New England Chowder, etc. How can a hotdog be that difficult.

[Andrew Morrison]

Never heard of it.

I did however find some culinary wizardry in a Bengali fellow named Zamil who had a rather pathetic hot dog stand on the corner of Bloor and Bathurst in Toronto. He managed to sell me on a near daily basis Bolognese Hot Dogs (yes, with penne bolognese stuffed in it) and a Poutine Hot Dogs (yes, with fries, gravy, and cheese stuffed in it).

He did a mighty brisk business with his imaginative flourishes, and no doubt a little side-biz with pepto.

Did I just admit that I ate such things on a near daily basis?

Er...i was a student....

Andrew

edited due to lukewarm coffee

Edited January 20, 2005 by editor@waiterblog (log)

[kguetzow]

Superdawg, Portillos, Demon Dogs

Portillos makes a good Italian Beef Sandwich which is equally important when it comes to Chicago food.

Superdawg has the best building by far

[Keith Talent]

Do you guys in the windy city have some sort of bat signal that goes up when the text string h-o-t-d-o-g gets entered? That was quick.

And I try to lead a non-judgenmental life, but honestly think anyone over ten that puts ketchup on a hotdog should be forced to leave civilized society. Maybe go live in Austrailia with all the other pro-ketchup weirdos.

[kguetzow]

Superdawg, Portillos, Demon Dogs

Portillos makes a good Italian Beef Sandwich which is equally important when it comes to Chicago food.

Superdawg has the best building by far

←

Woops! I thought you were in chicago

[viaChgo]

Do you guys in the windy city have some sort of bat signal that goes up when the text string h-o-t-d-o-g gets entered? That was quick.

That sounds about right.

[kguetzow]

The Bat signal has sounded and ViaChgo is right on the mark. kraut, fried onions,etc. are incorrect! And as far as ketchup goes, it should be just a little

[slbunge]

Actually there's no sauerkraut on a Chicago-style & the onions are raw. And under no circumstances should there be ketchup! Just:

-mustard

-relish

-chopped raw onions

-tomato wedge

-pickle spear

-sport peppers

-celery salt

Good luck with your search! If all else fails, you can have them FedEx'd from Portillo's.

←

Is saurkraut even allowed on a Chicago Polish? Not sure. Seems to me it is fried onions and sport peppers. Of course, the Chicago Polish would/should probably be a different thread of things you can't find in Vancouver.

[Daddy-A]

Keith,

Aside from Hotdog Johnny's (which I have been told does the Coney Island dog well, not so much Chicago - never having been to either city I can't comment), there is a fellow who has a hot dog stand out front of the Future Shop on Broadway. He's usually ony there around lunch time which I don't believe helps you very much ... but he has about the best dog in Vancouver IMO. Does he do Chicago style? Dunno.

A.

[Jeffy Boy]

Actually there's no sauerkraut on a Chicago-style

But Bobby Rivers says there is.

Are you saying Bobby Rivers is wrong?

Could this be?

[Vancouver Lee]

What makes a Chicago Hot Dog a "Chicago Hot Dog"? From Keith's post, it seems to be the toppings, i.e. any old hot dog can become a Chicago Hot Dog with the right fixin's. Is there a special kind of weiner?

Inquiring minds want to know...

[scout]

Hey Keith:

Just noticed that Kaplan's Deli lists a Chicago style hot dog on their menu.

FYI, they just opened a new location on Alberni between Burrard & Thurlow, but I haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

Happy chomping!

[Keith Talent]

Scout! Merci Beaucoup!

Any of the Chicagians (Chicagoites? Chicago-lenos?) want to vet the pic and confirm if it looks right?

[kguetzow]

That looks good. Almost too perfect for authenticity. And the tooth picks? just for the photo? Usually there would only be a single pickle spear running lengthwise along the bun. But as a nearly lifelong Chicagoan I must say that very few Chicagoans would notice any minor differences from dog to dog. They really don't give a sh*t as much as the legends would have you think.

Your picture made me hungry for a dog.....thats makes it an A+

[Keith Talent]

Just returned. My interest in productive labour today is slim, hit the mother ship at 39th and Cambie first, then lunch at Kaplans.

Best hot dog ever? Yeah, but being the best hot dog ever isn't that great an acheivement. It was exactly as pictured, except with even more toothpicks, enough to recreate the Bridge over the River Kwai model Higgins was working on before Magnum destroyed it. It think it copuld have used more sport peppers, (which are a relatively thick skinned, quite mild very vinegary pepper, I'd have liked more and seen them hotter. I've had a very similar pickled pepper with Fijian food.) It also could have used more celery salt, which was detectable with the first bite, but slowly faded into the background as other flavours asserted themselves. (Look at me! I've now eaten a total of ONE Oprah-ville style dog, and I'm feeling capable of critiquing it, does my hubris know no bounds?) Poppy seed bun was good, poppy seeds added a distinct element. The wiener itself was superb, as one would expect at Kaplans. The only disturbing part was the relish was a flourescent green, the colour that is natures way of saying "DON'T EAT ME", I did anyway, and feel no worse.

I'm now off to wash the hot dog smell off my hands, I've scrubbed then four times already, it's one of the most pervasive odours in the world.

Quick word on the service. The waiter was a real pro. When I asked him if they had any papers laying around, he said no, but quick as can be ran to the gas station next door and got me one. The world needs more people like him.

I'm not going to add the Chicago dog at Kaplans to my lunch time rota, I'll eat my next Chicago style dog in Chicago, walking to to see the Cubs play, that's where'd it'd really be good. In a reastaurant, on a plate it certainly loses something that would be gained having relish splatter on your shoes eating it outside. It was a worthwhile experience though.