Regional Specialty Hot Dogs.
Each of these specialty dogs represents a different regional style. They aren't interpretations. No expense is spared to authentically make them with with regional ingredients which are special-ordered for your event. They are prepared to order one at a time for your guests with maximum care.
The Sonoran Style Hotdog. An Arizona original.
We start with our all-beef Hoffy Dog which is then wrapped in bacon and grilled. Served on a bun with pinto beans, cheese, chopped tomatos, onions and salsa, this dog is addictive. The style seems to have begun in Tucson but has rapidly moved on through Phoenix and has attracted national attention. So for those of you who have been asking, yes, I'll tell you how to make them at home.
The New Yorker
For this street-cart style classic we start with your choice of the famous New York's Sabrett hot dog or the kosher Hebrew National hot dog. Served on a plain steamed bun, saurkraut, spicy brown mustard and the required sweet onion sauce compliment this Manhattan staple. If you've never been there or if you miss it there, we can bring the flavor to you right here in Arizona.
The Parisien.
Served on half a baguette roll, with gruyere cheese and either cepe mushroom-based catsup or course-ground brown mustard. An authentic French twist on an American favorite. Select a Schreiner's Of Phoenix gourmet, hand-made sausage and it's a meal you can have with a glass of red wine and a mixed green salad.
The Chicago-style Hot Dog
This famed American artform is frequently misunderstood. Everything necessary to prepare this treat must be special-ordered. The Chicago is a steamed Vienna Beef hot dog which gets "dragged through the garden" or topped with tomato wedges, cucumbers slices, both a dill pickle spear, "nuclear green" sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard directly on the sausage, pickled sport peppers, and finished with celery salt. These are served on a special steamed poppy seed bun. Someone once said a Chicago is a hot dog with an "austere salad on top".
The Carolina Dog or "slaw dog".
The Carolina Dog is either a deep fried or steamed hot dog in a plain wheat bun, topped with cole-slaw, chili, mustard and chopped onions. The product is then foil-wrapped and allowed to steam so the bun becomes very soft before serving. It's a favorite at Southeastern fairs and carnivals. In the SouthEast, folks eat about as many pork hot dogs as beef, and there's some difference of opinion on which one is right for the Slaw Dog. The chili is optional but the slaw ain't. It's there for it's texture as much as it's flavor which is something like a "picnic in a bun".
Regional prohibitions. What's the problem with catsup?
As often noted, many hot dog vendors all over the land consider catsup to be an inferior condiment. Many vendors from Chicago through New England refuse to serve it, even for French fries, for which gravy is the preferred topping. Here in Arizona we have no such compunctions. We're more experimental in the culinary sense. Catsup on hot dogs is OK with us. Mayonnaise is a different story. It can be a good taste, but mayo oxydizes in contact with heat. It has to be "layered above" something to insulate it, served and eaten immediately. However, if the customer wants it, they can have it is our philosophy.
Other regional styles.
Hot dogs are eaten all over South America under a variety of different names. They generally come garnished with local produce. Like a LOT of it. Interesting things like grilled potatos, chillies, pinapple, avocado, cilantro, many different kinds of chopped meat or sauces along with every single normal "American" condiment known all ends up on a hot dog in Latin America. Usually at the same time. None of this sounds too strange to a Phoenician but it would make Northern doggers feint.
Almost all other major regional styles are easily achieved with our normal condiment selections including Tex-Mex (salsa, cheese, chopped tomatos) to the classic Coney (chopped onion, chili, cheese) and many others. Many times people just want us to stick with good old mustard, catsup and relish for their condiment selection, especially where kids are involved. Let us help you select the right menu for your tastes and budget.
How to make Sonoran Style hot dogs at home.
And now the moment so many of you have been waiting for. Since people from around the nation keep emailing, let's tell you how to make the Sonoran Style hot dog at home.
- Get yourself a premium all-beef hot dog like the Hoffy franks we use and get yourself some bacon. Get all that other stuff like the buns, pinto beans, tomatoes, onions, salsa, cheese and jalapenos.
- Carefully wrap the raw bacon around the hot dog in a spiral from one end to the other of the hot dog. Try and cover the whole dog from end to end completely with bacon. You can use tooth-picks to hold the bacon in place.
- Heat up the oven to a nice 375-400 degrees while you place the wrapped dogs in a baking pan or sheet or whatever, don't stack them, just lay down a single layer and bake them. For a LONG TIME. I can't say precisely how long, I never timed it, easily over an hour, I just leave them in until that bacon looks real good and done. You can go long on the time because that bacon won't let that dog dry out under normal Earth conditions.
- While you are waiting, do all of your cold prep then go ahead and heat up your pinto beans. You want them hot so the cold foods don't cool down the hot dog immediately. Because now you are theoretically ready to assemble the final product. Let's get ready to ASSEMBLE!!!! WOOO-HOOOO!!!!. Sorry. Excuse me. I like assembly. A hot dog vendor always makes a big show out of assembly and presentation. Or a bit presentation out of assembly and show. Whatever. Let's do this thing.
- Grab your steamed bun, nestle the wrapped dog inside, apply a nice topping of pinto beans, not so much that they are spilling, but cover that lovely looking dog with the beans until you can't see it.
- The cheese goes right on top of this so it begins to warm and soften on the beans. I use grated medium cheddar cheese. It's flavorful but not too salty. Trust me, with the dog and the bacon, you got plenty of salt going. The other flavors are here to neutralize and balance this.
- Then I like to put down the chopped tomatoes and the salsa right on top of that because all they will see by the time you are done is the red underneath the white chopped onions which ride on top, so this is most of the presentation. Now it is also authentic to rest a single whole jalapeno pepper on the very top of all, but most folks can't handle a whole jalapeno. I make that optional. But in terms of presentation, it really looks nice. You end up with something close to the colors of the Mexican flag that way. But whichever way, a Sonoran Style should look pretty heaped up. Don't skimp on the fixins.
- Make sure you assemble and serve the Sonoran Style IMMEDIATELY. Don't let them sit around on platters fully assembled, assemble them to order every time. For one thing, you want your dogs internal food temperature to stay 140 degrees or above and for another, with all those tomatoes and salsa, things are going to start getting soggy.
That's about it. Serve Sonoran Style hot dogs with your favorite beer or soda pop, possibly while listening to a Mariachi band.
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