Rockin’ the Dog: The Great Hot Dog Cook-off
July 15th, 2008 by Scott
So, this past weekend I decided to try my hand at competitive chef-ery, cooking up a MONSTER dog for the 3rd Annual Great Hot Dog Cook-off. It was a hell of a time, and I must admit, there were some intimidatingly inventive takes on this American classic, ranging from Oaxacan mole dogs to Thanksgiving dogs baked in pastry dough with stuffing and gravy, doggies wrapped in banana leaves with mac and cheese, even — get this — hot dog sushi. Wow.
My own entry was a paen to my Louisiana roots (naturally), and was probably one of the most ambitious culinary undertakings I’ve ever attempted, what I called the “Loosiana Gator Dog.” Specifically, it was a butterflied Wagyu beef frank stuffed with a melted 3-cheese blend, topped with a tequila-spiked three-bean alligator chili (yes, there was actually alligator meat in the chili…two pounds of gator tail fillets, to be precise), and finished off with an artful squirt of sour cream, freshly chopped chives, and — the linchpin of the whole dish — crushed Fritos.
When all was said and done, this is what the finished beast looked like:
Sadly, I did not win the chili dog division, a prize that went to a Oaxacan dog with chorizo mole chili, peppers and queso fresco, served on a soft corn tortilla. It was, I have to admit, really damned tasty…but it did NOT have any alligator in it.
We did manage to raise around $1500 for the Food Bank of New York, too, so it was all in the name of charity and goodhearted fun. Many thanks to Kara of Ted & Amy’s Supper Club and Cathy from Not Eating Out In New York (her coverage here) for hosting such a great event. And you can read more about the cook-off on Serious Eats, thanks to Jenn Sit.
16 Responses to “Rockin’ the Dog: The Great Hot Dog Cook-off”
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jamie wrote on 07/15/08 at 6:03 pm :
i wish i could’ve tried that masterpiece!
Kim Keener wrote on 07/15/08 at 8:17 pm :
I loved your gator dog. I never knew alligator was so tasty. I would love the recipe and where to order alligator meat from. Even if it were just for the chili
Rudy wrote on 07/15/08 at 8:44 pm :
That’s a mighty fine looking dog, sir. Wish I could’ve been there…
moreau wrote on 07/15/08 at 8:57 pm :
You had me at gator.
karol wrote on 07/20/08 at 9:09 pm :
superb! it’s all about the fritos.
scott wrote on 07/25/08 at 10:54 am :
Although I would agree that some of these hot dogs sound tasty and look delish (and I certainly appreciate the fund raising efforts as well)….I don’t think any of them would compare to any hot dog found in Chicago…..In fact, I think this hot dog cook-off that you are writing about is comparable to attending a minor-league Cricket tournament. In other words, I would rather transport marbles up and down my alley barefoot on shards of glass..
Disagree? check out wwww.hotdogsaregoodforyou.wordpress.com and let me know how you really feel!!
john t wrote on 02/12/09 at 2:42 pm :
Wagyu beef hot dogs? Who knew they made such a thing. Seems like a waste, though.
harry wrote on 02/13/09 at 6:53 pm :
I hate to get stuffy and on someone’s fun little food blog, but john t, you’re probably right. I doubt anyone makes authentic “wagyu beef” frankfurters; definitely not in Japan. This is probably made from American meat that is labeled “wagyu;” aka “kobe style” etc., so grinding it isn’t such an abomination;) Real wagyu is born and raised in Japan and there IS a difference; Kobe beef specifically isn’t even that revered in Japan, it’s more of a mass market wagyu.
I find it interesting that beef frankfurters are only popular in the US; probably for their lower price and lower fat content. An authentic frankfurter is made from pork. Personally, if I wanted to construct a decadent contest winning dog, I’d start kuro buta (japanese black pig) or maybe wild boar; perhaps even a 50/50 mix.
And while I’m being stuffy; for the record… A frankfurter is a sausage. A “hotdog” is a frankfurter in a bun. Americans seem to combine the two words as meaning the same thing, but take a look at the package of wieners next time you buy; they aren’t called hotdogs. That said, a frankfurter wrapped in sushi rice is probably closer to being sushi than it is to being a hotdog.
Scott wrote on 02/13/09 at 7:35 pm :
Okay, time for The Shameless Carnivore to weigh in.
First, to Harry: thank you for being here and writing thoughtfully about the post and its comments. I appreciate your candor.
Secondly: You’re wrong. Oh boy, are you wrong.
Wagyu beef is beef from the Wagyu breed of cattle, most famously known from Kobe, Japan. It is not Kobe beef, because — like Cognac and Champagne and Bourbon and other products that have regional designations — it is not from the Kobe prefecture. Wagyu steers, however, have been imported to the USA, and have a fine, longstanding reputation of producing beautiful, if not fully “Kobe,” beef, with all that fantastic marbling. It’s good beef, quality beef, and very tasty, no matter what you do with it.
Which brings me to my next point. Harry, while enthusiastic, clearly doesn’t know what a hot dog actually is. No, it does not have to be made from pork, though pork-based hot dogs are very popular. It’s kind of astonishing that he’d use the word “frankfurter,” not even realizing that the spicy BEEF sausages originating from Frankfurt bear the namesake of that colloquialism, as opposed to “wiener,” which refers to the milder, veal-based sausages commonly found in Vienna (note: also beef). Obviously, Harry isn’t a Jew like me, otherwise he’d be keenly aware of all of the AMAZING kosher hot dogs on the market, particularly Hebrew National, all of which are made from beef.
Here’s what a hot dog is: Meat — generally beef or pork, but it can also be chicken, turkey, lamb, llama, what have you — combined with fat (very important – all decent hot dogs should be minimum 30% fat, for flavor and binding purposes), and spices (usually salt, garlic and paprika), all of which are emulsified into a liquid, stuffed into a casing, then smoked and served on a roll.
THAT, sir, is a hot dog. Get your facts straight if you want to get all huffy in these environs.
That said, it doesn’t matter where your meat comes from when you’re creating a hot dog, unless you’re making it’s of the kosher variety. Is a Wagyu hot dog a waste of good beef? Not if you really consider which parts they’re using. Obviously, anything from the sirloin or short loin would be sad to see liquefied and poured into a sausage casing. But scraps from the shanks? Trimmings from the chuck or round? Head meat? The tail?
Any part of this animal can be made into a hot dog. Which is why I don’t like to think about it all too much when I’m enjoying my frank. After all, isn’t that the whole point about hot dogs in the first place?
That is all,
Scott
The Shameless Carnivore
harry wrote on 02/14/09 at 5:07 am :
Hate to make your blog comments some kind of contest about who’s right and who’s wrong, but I speak Japanese. The term Wagyu is a combination of two Japanese kanji characters; Wa and Gyu. Gyu means cow an Wa means Japan or Japanese in style or origin. The word simply refers to the numerous breeds of cows that have been bred in Japan for many years. Any other meaning you have for “wagyu” is derived and unofficial. You may look up the history of when and how cows first arrived in Japan, as they are not native to the islands, but they have been there for long enough to have been bred selectively resulting in an original product that is a combination of genes and the environment they are raised. To any native Japanese, wagyu ceases to be wagyu once it is born and raised in another locale; or it at least severely diminishes such a designation.
Also, I didn’t say Kobe beef = Wagyu. In Japan beef and many other foods are named according to the region in which they are produced. Kobe “style” beef does not exist in Japan, but beef that is historically bred in Kobe exists (Kobegyu), and you can eat it in Kobe. And if you’re truly a connoisseur you can eat highly esteemed beef from many other regions in Japan that have their own names and levels of subjective quality (Yonezawagyu is superb). Kobe just happens to be a name known in the US and which is abusively used for marketing purposes.
To your credit, yes the word “wiener” does have a different meaning from hot dog or frankfurter, so I apologize for being cavalier about it, but frankfurters *are* traditionally made from pork, and you can look this up. The origin of the term “hot dog” isn’t clear to me, some sources on the web attribute it to coming from Frankfurt, though I have my doubts having eaten Frankfurters in Frankfurt. I received a long spicy 100% pork sausage (easily 50%+ juicy pork fat inside) settled in a roll that in combination would look much like a broomstick would were you to thread it through a baseball. So the idea is at least partially Frankfurtian, but it wasn’t named a “hot dog” in Germany, as they speak German, and a “heiss hund” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. The amount of poorly referenced info on the web concerning this topic is often copied from one place to another; though wikipedia does confer with me on what an authentic frankfurter consisting of only pork. Perhaps the true history of these terms and foods would be a good side project for the Shameless Carnivore.
BTW, I am aware of Hebrew National’s products. I can buy one of their packages labeled “beef frankfurters” at my supermarket. I assume “beef” is prefaced to distinguish the product from a standard frankfurter which does not contain beef.
Upton Sinclair would probably agree with you about not thinking too hard about the origin of sausages you intend to eat! Beef or not, I enjoy them all.
Sue Donym wrote on 02/14/09 at 11:15 pm :
You’re all fat.
Paul wrote on 02/15/09 at 12:53 pm :
I shall never understand this as long as I shall live. But it looks deliciouso. Where’s mine?
babs wrote on 02/16/09 at 9:28 am :
well
being that ive lived in louisiana for the past 6 years..i would gobble the HOT DOG made from wagyu in a few seconds flat, although i think the picture is misleading and its probably huge, so a few minutes then.
also.. whats the point of b*tching about frankfurters and hot dogs. thats real gay.
i guess if you were some uppity douchebag from germany, you may insist its called a frankfurter
..however, if i may act like an ignorant southerner briefly… its a goddamn hot dog, man. all american at this point, f the roots. it may have been a frankfurter in a fancy bun at some point.. but psssssh, who cares.
seriously, to the gentleman who cooked this beautiful “fat” food, congrats my friend, youve outdone all other hotdogs, frankfurters, wieners, etc.. by making me drool while looking at my computer, i only imagine the smell being twice as effective as the photos.
can i pay you via paypal for a gator dog? :)
-p.s. i dont mean to bash opions, but lighten up guys.. ITS A HOT DOG. not a genocide or some horrible conflict we’re arguing over.
Crawfish wrote on 04/4/09 at 10:43 am :
I never knew gators are eaten.
Anonymous wrote on 05/10/09 at 3:43 pm :
Hi ,
I’m from Ireland…
This is sick..
How can someone eat this?
Yuuuuck….
Colin wrote on 06/26/09 at 6:44 pm :
Hi,
I’m from Scotland.
This is amazing.
That looks so damn tasty I want one now!
Yuuuuuuuuum….