Hot dog variations
Different areas of the world have local variations on the hot dog, in the type of meat used, the condiments added, and its means of preparation.
A hot dog is a type of cooked sausage, traditionally grilled or steamed and served in a partially sliced bun. This type of sausage was culturally imported from Germany and popularized in the United States in the 19th and 20th century, where it became a working-class street food sold at hot dog stands and carts. It is also sold at fast-food restaurants and convenience stores, as well as being available for home preparation after being purchased at grocery stores. The hot dog became closely associated with cookouts, and sporting events such as baseball and American culture. It has become a popular street food and concessions stand menu item globally, besides from home preparation. There is many variations in topping and styles; in many cases a certain style becomes popular in a certain region, and in particular there is variation in the toppings, preparation, and type of sausage and bun.
United States
Hot dogs are a very popular sandwich throughout the United States. Many regional variations exist.Alaska
Hot dogs made with caribou meat added are sold as "reindeer dogs" throughout Alaska.Arizona
The Sonoran hot dog is popular in Tucson, Phoenix, and elsewhere in southern Arizona, as well as in the neighboring Mexican state of Sonora, where it originated.Arkansas
The Sooie Dog, topped with bacon and barbecue sauce, or the Frito Pie dog, with queso, Fritos, chili, and a small amount celery salt.California
In Los Angeles, Pink's Hot Dogs promotes its celebrity customers and its chili dogs, the latter of which come in a wide number of varieties. A local chain, Tommy's, also has chili dogs featuring a premium natural casing hot dog alongside its much better-known chili hamburgers, and another local chain The Hat, which specializes in pastrami, has them also.Other notable Los Angeles chains that specialize in hot dogs include Hot Dog On A Stick, which serves a preparation similar to a corn dog, and Wienerschnitzel, a chain that bills itself as "The World's Largest Hot Dog Chain." The Farmer John Dodger Dog is sold at Dodger Stadium.
Street vendors in Los Angeles also serve the "Downtown Dog" or "LA Street Dog" a Mexican-style bacon-wrapped hot dog with grilled onions, jalapeños, and bell peppers, and mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise as condiments. These are typically sold around closing time outside nightclubs and bars by street vendors, who grill the hot dogs on small push-carts. The legality of such operations may be questionable, leading locals to sometimes refer to these treats as "Danger Dogs".
Connecticut
Connecticut hot dog restaurants often serve sausages produced by local family operations such as Hummel Bros, Martin Rosol, or Grote & Weigel, with national brands being relatively less common. The hot dogs are typically served on New England rolls. There is otherwise no particular Connecticut style though deep frying and homemade condiments are common.Georgia
In Columbus, Georgia, a local favorite is the "scrambled dog," the exemplar of which was first served at the Dinglewood Pharmacy by "The Lieutenant" Charles Stevens over 50 years ago. The scrambled dog is a chopped hot dog covered by chili, onions and pickles with an accompanying portion of oyster crackers.In Fitzgerald, Georgia, Johnnie's Drive In served the "scrambled dog" beginning in the early 1940s. Johnnie's scrambled dog is two sliced hot dogs over a hot dog bun with mustard and catsup and covered with oyster crackers, chili, cole slaw, and sliced dill pickles.
Hawaii
Hawaiian-style hot dogs are made with smoky polish sausage served on a toasted Hawaiian sweet bun that has a hole punched out of the middle. The hole or "puka" is filled with tropical fruits and sauces, such as pineapple or mango mustard, and garlic lemon sauce. Puka hot dog stands use a heated rod that pokes the hole in the bun and toasts the inside at the same time. This prevents the inside of the bun from getting soggy from the sauces. The resulting puka dog is sweet, salty, and spicy.Another popular variety of Hawaiian hot dog is grilled and then served with a relish that includes pineapple, red onion, peppers, lime juice, and either cilantro or parsley. Additional condiments may include mayonnaise mixed with either sriracha or teriyaki sauce.
Illinois
The Chicago-style hot dog is a steamed kosher-style all-beef, natural-casing hot dog on a steamed poppy seed bun, topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices, Chicago-style relish, hot sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. Chicago-style hot dogs do not include ketchup.This "dragged through the garden" style, is heavily promoted by Vienna Beef and Red Hot Chicago, the two most prominent Chicago hot dog manufacturers, but exceptions are common, with vendors adding cucumbers or lettuce, omitting poppy seeds or celery salt, or using plain relish or a skinless hot dog. Several popular hot dog stands serve a simpler version: a steamed natural-casing dog with only mustard, onions, plain relish and sport peppers, wrapped up with hand-cut fries, while the historic Superdawg drive-ins notably substitute a pickled tomato.
Kansas and Missouri
A Kansas City-style hot dog is a pork sausage in a sesame seed bun topped with brown mustard, sauerkraut and melted Swiss cheese.Maine
A popular hot dog in Maine is colored bright red and known as a "red snapper". The idea was brought to the US by a German immigrant, and two companies—W.A. Bean and Rice's—competed in sales. The color tradition has stuck into modern times. Red nappers are typically served in split-top buns.Massachusetts
In Boston, hot dogs are often served steamed as opposed to grilled. The Fenway Frank, served at Fenway Park, is a fixture for Red Sox fans, and there are several other local brands such as Pearl that are used. Hot dogs in the Boston area are associated with Boston baked beans, though this is not unique to the region. Ketchup, mustard, relish, picalilli, and chopped onions are the most common toppings.In Fall River, hot doggeries usually sport the naming convention " Coney Island Hot Dogs". The various toppings include cheese, Coney Island, chili, and others.
Michigan
In southeastern Michigan, restaurants serve what's known as a Coney dog, developed early in the 20th century by Greek immigrants. "Coney joints" are very specific as to the ingredients: a beef or beef and pork European-style Vienna sausage of German origin in a natural lamb or sheep casing, topped with a spiced sauce made with ground beef heart, one or two stripes of yellow mustard and diced or chopped white onions. There are three variations on the Coney dog: Jackson style, which started in 1914 with a ground beef sauce prior to switching to ground beef heart in the early 1940s, Detroit style, first served in 1917 and made with a more soupy beef heart-based sauce, and Flint style, with Flint Coney Island opening in 1924 serving a specially developed Koegel's coney topped with thicker, meatier sauce based on a Macedonian goulash, made almost entirely of a finely ground beef heart blend from Abbott's Meat. With over 350 chain and independent purveyors of these dogs in the metro-Detroit area alone, an entire restaurant industry has developed from the hot dog and are called Coney Islands.New Jersey
New Jersey's Italian hot dog includes diced fried potatoes combined with brown mustard served on a spicy hot dog. The most common brands of spicy hot dogs used are Sabrett's or Best's, both of which are NJ companies. A traditional Italian Hot Dog is made by cutting a round "pizza bread" in half or into quarters, cutting a pocket into it and spreading the inside with mustard. A deep-fried dog is put in the pocket, topped with fried onions and peppers, and then topped off with crisp-fried potato chunks. A variation of this, often found at express takeout restaurants substitutes French fries for the traditional potato round, and in some spots a Portuguese or sub roll replaces the traditional round bread used.The Texas wiener or Hot Texas wiener was created in Paterson, New Jersey sometime before 1920. A traditional Texas wiener is blanched in cool oil, finished in hot oil, and topped with spicy mustard, chopped onions, and a chili sauce.
New York
New York City
In New York City, the natural-casing all-beef hot dogs served at Katz's Delicatessen, Gray's Papaya, Papaya King, Papaya Dog and any Sabrett cart are all made by Sabrett's parent company, Marathon Enterprises, Inc. Local kosher brands—which are not permitted natural casings—include Hebrew National, Empire National. The usual condiments are mustard and sauerkraut, with optional sweet onions in a tomato based sauce invented by Alan Geisler, usually made by Sabrett. Hot dogs are available on street corners as well as at delicatessens. New York street vendors generally store their unsold dogs in warm-water baths, giving rise to the semi-affectionate moniker "dirty water dog." Bagel dogs are also sold in Manhattan.Upstate
The white hot or "porker" is a variation on the hot dog found mostly in the Rochester area. It is composed of some combination of uncured and unsmoked pork, beef, and veal; it is believed that the lack of smoking or curing allows the meat to retain a naturally white color.A Michigan hot dog, Michigan red hot, or simply "michigan", is a steamed all-beef hot dog on a steamed bun topped with a meaty sauce, generally referred to as "michigan sauce", and is a specialty in and around Plattsburgh, New York.
In the Capital District surrounding Albany, smaller-than-usual wieners are served with a spicy meat sauce; the Capital District style is quite similar to the New York System or Hot Wieners of Rhode Island. In the mid-twentieth century, hot dog purveyors reportedly would carry the dogs to the table lined up on their bare forearms, giving rise to the term "the Hairy Arm"; today, health codes prohibit this practice. Further north, in three locations in and around Glens Falls, New Way Lunch has served similar hot dogs with meat sauce, mustard, and raw onions for nearly 100 years.
Texas hots have a niche following in western New York. A 2017 article in the Olean Times Herald made note of the dish's disappearance from the city of Olean.