Hot Dogs: The Alpha and The Omega.
The first time I made these was for my friend Jane. We had lunch together in my mom’s kitchen. It was lovely and Jane was happy and I was happy and we spoke of wondrous things.
The second time I made these I was on the news. Last March, my buddy Matt Timms was in town for his annual Bacon Takedown and he got a spot on K-EYE to talk about it. As the reigning champion from 2010, I was asked to join him and demo a recipe using bacon. Somehow they got word of the bacon dress I made for last year’s Takedown; I don’t know how. They told me to “wear the bacon dress”. I think they were expecting some kind of Lady Gaga-esque monstrosity that reeked of flesh and sulfites and would really be something. But it’s not that at all. It’s just a dress made from cotton (and sequins) that resembles bacon. So they were kinda let down, I think. But that didn’t stop them from cutting to me standing in front of a green screen every time they needed filler, which was three times by my count and each time they literally told me to “just stand there”. For 30 seconds. With no talking. Just stand there. What am I??? A piece of MEAT???
News people are WEIRD.
Anyway, like I was saying, I made Mexican hotdogs on the news because Mexican hot dogs are the bomb. They’re also known as Sonoran hot dogs and they’re one of those mysterious fusion-foods that’s been around at least 20 years, but could have been around much longer, and there’s a million “right” ways to make ‘em and none of them are wrong. If you’ve never heard of this business, you are in luck to hear of it finally! What it is, is a hotdog, wrapped in bacon, fried until it’s crispy and then topped with bajillions of condiments, the most important and delicious of which are salsa verde and mayonnaise, IMHO. Refried beans, pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, and grilled onions are also frequently piled atop. Sometimes you see them in a standard hot dog bun, but I prefer using a Mexican-style French bread called a bolillo.
The first time I tried this, I used a thick-cut pepper bacon and while it was good, thinner bacon works better. You want it to get real crispy. And just use regular-sized dogs, not jumbo or bun-length because the bacon won’t wrap those completely and you definitely want to make sure your dawg is tightly swaddled in pork fat. And I like to toast my rolls in the bacon grease (because I’m operating under the delusion that bacon fat is good for me?) even though many people say they must be steamed buns. There’s two sides to every story, I suppose, but I’ll always take the side that has its bread toasted in bacon fat, thankyewverymuch.
Sonoran Hot dog!
Mexican Hot Dogs
Here’s how to make one hot dog. Obviously, like when you’re making regular hot dogs, you just make as many as you want. I want all the hot dogs. How many do YOU want?
- 1 hot dog
- 1 slice bacon
- 1 hot dog bun or small French-style roll
- Choose any or all of these condiments:
- Mayonnaise, Mustard, Ketchup
- Salsa Verde
- Pico de Gallo
- Refried beans
- Grilled onions and/or jalapenos
- Pickled jalapenos
- Fresh diced onion
- Sliced radishes, tomatoes, cucumber
- Starting at one end of the dawg, wrap the bacon around in it a spiral.
- Put it in a skillet and fry it over medium-high heat, turning as each side browns to get it all brown and crispy all over.*
- Toast the bun (or just heat it up in the microwave for a couple seconds).
- Slap on your mayo, mustard, and/or ketchup and any other toppings you want!
- Enjoy with an icy cold Bud Light (or a Coke, fine!)
- *If you want to grill these outdoors, use toothpicks to hold the bacon on while cooking. Remember to take them out before you serve them!
The LEARN TO COOK Book is Here!
By popular demand, Learn to Cook is now available in print! Over 300 pages of knowledge between two soft covers.
Learn To Cook is designed to get you cooking for yourself like a civilized human being! Drawing from a lifetime of cooking and over two years experience making instructional cooking videos, author Hilah Johnson has produced a beginners’ cookbook for today’s young adults. The casual, straightforward style will appeal to anyone with a sense of humor and the focus on fresh, simple recipes will appeal to anyone who loves to eat. The book includes chapters on menu planning, knife skills, grocery shopping and more, plus a comprehensive spice chart and over 150 recipes from breakfast to dinner to snacks in between.
I create short-form, educational, and occasionally hilarious cooking videos geared towards beginner and intermediate cooks, as well as people who are just looking for simple, low-cost recipes. Everything is made from scratch, people!
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
Pork Fat Rulez!! You can put just about anything on this dog. Hilah you should have readers send in pictures of their attempts at your recipes. It would probably be pretty entertaining. I think my version of this recipe will be called ‘Everything But The Kitchen Sink Bacon Dog’.
I’d love to do that! That would be fun. I like to put as much stuff as possible on mine. That is probably why I prefer a larger bun, actually!
Sending in pictures of our attempts at Hilah’s recipes? What a great idea!
Ha! You’ve already got quite a collection of them, too.
Bacon grease? Seriously? I’m just going to have to try this recipe. Is cooking food in bacon grease a Texas thing? Will it make me talk with a twang? Now don’t get me wrong. I’m all for bacon grease, and Hilah, I don’t want to be a sissy. Oh! And don’t let me forget about the jalapenos. Well let me not be a sissy. Let put on my cowboy boots and hat, and rustle up the courage to try this recipe. Hilah, you make life one big interesting feast.
Don’t wuss out on me, Laurence! Try it and let me know what you think. Put on as many jalapenos as you can stand!
Okay i’ll break the diet for this one because everyone loves hot dogs and bacon, but my question is…..What made you change to your opening music? Is it ‘New season, new music’? Or you just felt like it?
Hi Bernard!
Thanks for bucking up to the Mexican hotdog. Hope you like it!
As far as the music…can I cite “personal reasons”?
We had planned to change the opening sequence as well, but we just ran out of time. We love the existing stuff, but we have been doing this for over 80 episodes now, so we want to change things up from time to time. So look for the all-new credits starting with episode 100, just in time for the 2 year birthday of Hilah Cooking!
YAY you’re back!! I was going through some serious Hilah withdrawal over the summer haha. The hotdogs look amazing, now I know what I’m bringing to the tailgate this Saturday! I just hope the smell doesn’t start a riot.
Hi Alex! I’m glad to be back, dude!
Have an awesome time tailgatin’ and enjoy the hell outta those hotdogs…SAFELY.
First yay new season! Second where’s bacons best friend Avocado? A and B go together like PB&J. I have a question, Peanuts and Dr. Pepper taste great together but I am kinda bored with it, is there a recipe that uses them or do you know how I can change them up for a fresh taste sensation. Thank you and yay new season.
Hey Michael! I didn’t have any avocado on hand (For shame!) but it is awesome on these. Do it.
As far as the DP and P… let me think on it. I’m thinking…
Thanks for writing!
Sorry I’m so late on this but did you know internet providers expect to be paid on a regular basis. They were not impressed with my excuse of ‘its totally next on my list of things to do’. I tried using the DR. and Thai Peanut sauce as a rub and marinade on whole chickens. It kinda worked, sorta. I don’t know it’s a weird combo but it ought to work on something.
What?! I can’t believe they could be so cruel!
I think you’re on to something here with the chicken. Maybe marinating it in the Dr. and then grilling it. Serve with a peanut sauce/bbq sauce-type thing? Maybe reduce some Dr.P to a syrup, then blend with PB and sauteed onions and jalapenos. Prob would need to add a little vinegar to balance the Dr.
Looks like good eatin’! Hi Hilah!!!
Hi Norm! Good to hear from you!
Sooooo glad you’re back!!! Love the new intro music! I’m pumped for Season 3. Cheers!
Hey Josh! I’m happy to be back, too. And THANK YOU! So far you’re the only one who’s commented positively on the new music. :/ Yikes!
Thanks for writing, buddy!
As I ransacked my refrigerator to prepare for Lunch with Hilah, I noticed that leftover Salsa Verde de Hilah was hiding behind a couple of bottles of vermouth and made a note to myself to do something with it. As I got setup for eating lunch and watching the season premiere, I was expecting to see the chicken-fried steak episode and wondered if replacing the cream gravy with salsa verde would work (bistec frito pollo verde?) Oh, well. A Sonoran hot dog is a better idea.
Your recipe is definitely going to mean more Mexican hot dogs in my life. I’ve been making them with avocado and refried beans and not only do I think your version will taste better, but it won’t be a such a pain in the ass to make. I always have salsa verde, mayonnaise, mustard and bacon on hand. And now with this and stir-fried hot dogs in regular rotation, wieners will be be, too.
Do you have a favorite brand of wieners? My favorite for “regular” hotdogs is Nathan’s, but I think I prefer Hebrew National for stir-fried. You’d think that with all of the hot-dog vendors in Austin using Vienna franks that they would be available in retail stores, but evidently the distributor only sells wholesale.
Hi Randy!
First of all, you’re supposed to keep vermouth in the fridge? Oops.
Second, I think HebNats are my favorite, too, but they are a little long for this particular preparation. I used some kind of nitrite-free beef weenies, Central Market brand I think. They were good. Plus, I read this article about how nitrites are bad for you? So, fine. I’ll buy the fancy ones.
When I’m making corndogs, though, all bets are off and HebNats are IT.
Yes, vermouth should be kept in the fridge. Even though they are fortified, they still go south after a few weeks at room temperature. Even kept in the fridge, the flavor will go off after about 6 months.
I don’t get un-cured weenies and bacon. They are just too bland. Yes, nitrites are currently bad, but even if they aren’t rehabilitated like butter and lard, a little is not going to kill you.
BTW, I’m looking for a local source of salt-cured bacon but all I’ve found is the usual water-cured.
I guess that uncured weenies would be okay when wrapped with bacon and absorbing some of its cured goodness.
Ahaha! I never heard that. I suppose the bottle I’ve had in my cabinet for a year is no good? I guess I need to start using it more.
I’ve not noticed a big taste-difference between cured and uncured weenies and bacon. Maybe I put too much other crap on there to notice. (By “crap” I mean all the hot sauces.)
BUT, I should figure out how to make my own salt-cured bacon. Then I can sell it on the black market.
The next time you want a martini, buy a new bottle and compare it with your old bottle. The old stuff won’t be bad, as in hazardous to your health, just greatly diminished in flavor. I use up dry vermouth fairly rapidly because I always substitute it in any recipe calling for white wine (Julia Child tip). I often substitute sweet vermouth for red wine in braises, too.
I’ve been tempted to cure my own bacon, as well. Pork bellies are becoming easier to find. I live in an apartment so outdoor smokers are verboten, but I’ve actually made fantastic bbq brisket using a stovetop smoker rig in my oven (I know bbq fanatics are rolling their eyes over that one, but it’s true)
Why is vimeo giving me shit . . . uh, problems?
What kind of Vimeo problems are you having? If you can’t watch it for some reason, here’s the YouTube link:
http://youtu.be/WDIf2Jo9EiQ
Vimeo is a DICK!
A variation that you might find interesting: Several years ago I found a cookbook entitled Matt Makes a Run for the Border (New York: Lebhar-Friedman Books, 2000) on the remainder table at a bookstore. The author, Matt Martinez Jr., gives a recipe for “Po’ Boy’s Filet MIgnon” (p. 112). It’s a hot dog. He slits it open lengthwise, stuffs it with pieces of pickled jalapeño, wraps it in bacon and cooks it as you do in your recipe. Then he wraps the stuffed-dog-and-bacon in a warm flour tortilla with the embellishments — mayo, salsa, mustard, pico de gallo, etc., like you say. A Mexican hot dog taco!!
OK, you might prefer crusty, chewy, yeast-raised bread with Mexican dawgs. I won’t argue; I’ll try them your way first.
Best,
Pat
(I’m a commenting fool today.) Variations are endless. You could dice up the bacon, then fry it and reserves the bacon bits. Then slice up the hot dog into little coins and fry that in the bacon grease. Mix the bacon and the hot dog slices, put the toppings on the way Hilah suggests, but put it in a pita. Voila! Mexican hot dog schwarma!
Yummy! And add some cucumbers and tomatoes and tzatziki!
The bacon bits reminds me of a hot dog I bought from a street vendor in London years ago. It was called a Danish hot dog. I wish I could remember what else was on it. One of my current interests is Iceland and I’ve read that they really love hot dogs there and have their own national style, as well.
When I was in Copenhagen, the hot dogs sold by street vendors were thin and very red. They’d give you a long bun separately, along with a piece of waxed paper with a dab of mustard and a dab of ketchup on it.
Separate bun, eh? That’s weird. How were you supposed to eat it? I like the image of yellow and red dabs on waxed paper, though. Like an artist’s palette.
According to this Wikipedia article on hot dog variations, what I had in London wasn’t even close to a Danish hot dog, although I seem to recall that it had a very red, thin weenie. This article discusses a lot of interesting hot dogs, especially some of the Sonoran-like variations in Los Angeles (I hate having to admit that Southern California has the edge over Northern California with hog dogs…but we’ve got em beat with garlic fries!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dog_variations
Oh, man, Pat. That sounds pretty awesome. Imagine it with cheese stuffed inside, too.
Hope you like them this way, though!
Thanks for writing.
Good thought! I’ve always enjoyed cheese with hot dogs.
I’m glad it’s almost lunch time…
Is that the Matt Martinez Jr. of Matt’s El Rancho in Austin?
Great to see you back from summer break. Egads, is summer over already? Oh yeah, no it isn’t because I live in endless summer. South America this time…
These hot dogs are rather interesting but if I’m honest, I really only like the salsa verde and jalapenos…the pico is not for me. And mayo, are you kidding me? But you can’t go wrong with bacon-wrapped anything. I’d eat bacon-wrapped cake.
Unfortunately it is very tough to cook anything in a hotel room. But someday when I return, I will give this a shot.
One time in Barcelona, I cooked beans in my hotel room on a camp stove. Probably a very bad idea in hindsight but I was poor and hungry. Plus that place was haunted so maybe it kept ghosts away.
That sounds like the first paragraph of a novel.
Ha!
These are the yummiest hot dogs I have ever put in my talk hole!!!!
Yay!!!
This looks really good. I know vendors sell these on the street in places here in Phoenix and also in Tucson. Never had one though. From what I read they originated in Hermosillo. It’s funny, I was talking to my buddy about them and he actually had one from a street vendor when he was at a writer’s conference in Hermosillo. I love the north of the border/south of the border blend.
Hi Tracy! I’m with you – also fascinated by and really appreciate the mixing that happens along the border. We’re planning to spend some time down there soon and I’m looking forward to trying to find THE BEST MEXICAN HOT DOG.
You forgot the cheese! What kind of Mayo do you use? I find Best Foods makes the best mayo, what do you think?
You know, I don’t know that I have a preference, Jason. I usually buy one labeled “olive oil” even though I know the first ingredient isn’t actually olive oil. :/ I definitely do NOT like Miracle Whip, though, or any of those sweet salad dressing mayonnaise-type condiments.
I’m a grill cook, and when I saw this recipe I just had to try it at work. It went over very well. Everyone loved it! Thank you
That’s great, Rosalia! Thanks for writing!
Oh yeah! I used to use vermouth for wine, too, until I got in the habit of keeping wine around. But that’s probably a fine way to use up an older bottle for sure.
My friend made her own bacon once. I’m going to ask her about that.
I only buy wine for very special occasions…like pan frying a USDA Prime rib-eye. I’m a beer snob so I usually pair beer with food.