"It's sausage and mozzarella in the dough!" Who's not going to eat this? The Rise of the Korean Hot Dog
"If you had told me two years ago, when I started selling Korean hot dogs, that I would be interviewed by the Guardian, I would say, 'No way '" exclaims Mari Riaz, founder and owner of Uh K-dogs 'n' Juicy in London's Camden Market. And yet here we are, in the calm before the lunchtime rush, discussing the street food trend she helped start from her home kitchen in 2020, and which is now sweeping the UK.
At this point I haven't yet.I've seen them at street food markets and on social media, and even heard the shattering crackle of crispy batter as the devourers bite down - yet the texture and flavor of hot Korean dogs remain a mystery to me. I can imagine, though, or at least I think I can, from what I know of their contents: stringy mozzarella, sausage hot dog of some variety, coated in a batter that may or may not have cereal or noodles, layered on a stick, fried, and finished with strips of ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, or sweet pepper.
The similarities with the American corn dog are obvious, and even with Korean hot dogs are a direct descendant: created in the 1980s in Korea as a food easy street food that might make a cheap little piece of meat go further. “Hot dogs, alongside other canned and processed meats, were first introduced to the peninsula during the Korean War as part of army rations,” says U.S. chef Judy Joo. Korean, London-based restaurateur and cookbook author. "We think someone saw the quintessential American fairground food, corn dogs, and adapted it."
Cornmeal was replaced by wheat flour – corn not being a common crop in South East Asia – and as demand and competition grew, so did hot dogs. “The pieces got bigger and the toppings changed, incorporating cheese and fish cakes,” Joo explains. Most notably, street food vendors have gotten increasingly creative with coatings, coating them with everything from chunks of fries to dried ramen noodles and potatoes - even Rice Krispies or Cheetos.
In Koreatown, Los Angeles, where Joo grew up, Korean hot dogs were an after-school treat . "I remember munching on it hungrily, pulling out the insides of the cheese, and wrapping the gooey cheese around my finger." The K-dog's "cheese pull" is an extraordinary thing: a long string of melted cheese that stretches endlessly with each bite, so much so that you begin to gaze at scissors.
"I remember the first day we opened our doors in Camden Market, and people had no idea what we were selling; then a customer bought one out of curiosity, and it was the huge cheese of that first bite that then attracted a lot of people,” Riaz recalls.
Au UK, Kore...
"If you had told me two years ago, when I started selling Korean hot dogs, that I would be interviewed by the Guardian, I would say, 'No way '" exclaims Mari Riaz, founder and owner of Uh K-dogs 'n' Juicy in London's Camden Market. And yet here we are, in the calm before the lunchtime rush, discussing the street food trend she helped start from her home kitchen in 2020, and which is now sweeping the UK.
At this point I haven't yet.I've seen them at street food markets and on social media, and even heard the shattering crackle of crispy batter as the devourers bite down - yet the texture and flavor of hot Korean dogs remain a mystery to me. I can imagine, though, or at least I think I can, from what I know of their contents: stringy mozzarella, sausage hot dog of some variety, coated in a batter that may or may not have cereal or noodles, layered on a stick, fried, and finished with strips of ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, or sweet pepper.
The similarities with the American corn dog are obvious, and even with Korean hot dogs are a direct descendant: created in the 1980s in Korea as a food easy street food that might make a cheap little piece of meat go further. “Hot dogs, alongside other canned and processed meats, were first introduced to the peninsula during the Korean War as part of army rations,” says U.S. chef Judy Joo. Korean, London-based restaurateur and cookbook author. "We think someone saw the quintessential American fairground food, corn dogs, and adapted it."
Cornmeal was replaced by wheat flour – corn not being a common crop in South East Asia – and as demand and competition grew, so did hot dogs. “The pieces got bigger and the toppings changed, incorporating cheese and fish cakes,” Joo explains. Most notably, street food vendors have gotten increasingly creative with coatings, coating them with everything from chunks of fries to dried ramen noodles and potatoes - even Rice Krispies or Cheetos.
In Koreatown, Los Angeles, where Joo grew up, Korean hot dogs were an after-school treat . "I remember munching on it hungrily, pulling out the insides of the cheese, and wrapping the gooey cheese around my finger." The K-dog's "cheese pull" is an extraordinary thing: a long string of melted cheese that stretches endlessly with each bite, so much so that you begin to gaze at scissors.
"I remember the first day we opened our doors in Camden Market, and people had no idea what we were selling; then a customer bought one out of curiosity, and it was the huge cheese of that first bite that then attracted a lot of people,” Riaz recalls.
Au UK, Kore...
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