[Korean Recipes] Hot Dogs

Korean hot dogs, also known as Korean corn dogs, are a popular Korean street food that has recently come to the US. Learn how to make these fun, cheesy hot dogs at home.

WHAT ARE KOREAN HOT DOGS?

Korean hot dogs are a popular street food from Korea. Hot dogs are coated in batter and deep fried. They are then lightly coated in sugar before finished with condiments of your choice. The sweet and salty combination works surprisingly well. There are also several variations, including a mozzarella dog only filled with cheese (this one is especially popular on social media), and ones that are coated in potatoes or ramen noodles.

DO I NEED YEAST IN THE BATTER?

No. While I did come across several recipes that used yeast and I believe some of the vendors making these hot dogs do use yeast, I was able to achieve almost identical results without yeast. Adding yeast to the batter does help create a stretchy dough, but it also is a lot more work because you need to give the dough time to proof and rise.

The recipe I’m sharing today is a super easy batter that comes together in about 5 minutes. It’s similar to a pancake batter but it’s much thicker and stickier. The batter needs to be very thick and sticky so that it stays on the hot dogs and doesn’t drip off.
HOW TO MAKE KOREAN HOT DOGS

Start by skewering your hot dogs/sausage or mozzarella. I made some with sausages, a few with cheese, and a few that are half sausage and half cheese. A lot of the restaurants use wooden disposable chopsticks as the skewers so I did the same.
Next, make the batter. Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. The batter should be very thick and sticky.
The hot dogs are then coated in the sticky batter.
Then roll the hot dog in panko breadcrumbs.
Once coated, the hot dog is ready to be fried. Cook a few minutes, flipping at least once, until all sides are golden brown and batter is fully cooked.
Dust with granulated sugar. Drizzle with condiments of your choice.

KOREAN HOT DOGS
servings: 6
prep time: 25 MINUTES
cook time: 15 MINUTES
course: APPETIZER, MAIN DISHES
cuisine: KOREAN
Learn how to make this popular trendy Korean street food at home. Hot dogs are coated in a flour batter and panko breadcrumbs and then deep fried and dusted with sugar.

INGREDIENTS

6 hot dogs, sausages or mozzarella sticks (for mozzarella, cut sticks 1-inch wide and 4 1/2 inches long and make sure to use low moisture mozzarella)
3 pairs disposable wooden chopsticks
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
oil for frying
granulated sugar for coating
ketchup, mustard, spicy mayonnaise and other hot dog condiments of your choice

BATTER

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
125 ml fat free milk cold
1 large egg straight from refrigerator

INSTRUCTIONS

Break disposable wooden chopsticks apart and skewer your hot dogs, sausage or mozzarella. I made some with sausages, a few with cheese, and a few that are half sausage and half cheese.
Pat dry the hot dogs, sausage and cheese and place into fridge to keep cold while making batter.
Add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder to a large bowl. Whisk until evenly blended. Add in milk and egg. Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. The batter should be very thick and sticky. When you lift your whisk, the batter should not run off it. You do not want the batter to be runny because then the batter will run off the hot dogs when you coat them. Make sure to use egg and milk straight from the fridge so that the batter is cold when it's finished. If your kitchen is really warm, you may need to refrigerate the batter briefly to get it cold.
Pour the batter into a loaf pan. This will make it easier to coat the entire hot dog at once since you should be able fit all of it inside the loaf pan. In a separate loaf pan, add panko.
Pour oil into pan being used for frying. You want to add enough oil so that it is deep enough to cover the entire hot dog once the hot dog is placed in. Bring oil to about 350°F.
Remove skewers from fridge. To coat, turn the hot dog/sausage/cheese a few times in the batter until it is coated. You can then use your fingers to help evenly spread out the batter or remove some of the batter if your coating is too thick. Keep in mind that your batter will expand once it is fried so you don't want your coating to be too thick. Make sure your hot dog/sausage/cheese is completely sealed in batter.
Roll the hot dog in panko breadcrumbs. While the sticky batter will pick up some of the breadcrumbs, I also like to sprinkle and press more on with my hands to make sure every crevice is covered in panko.
Working quickly, repeat with remaining hot dogs/sausages/cheese. If it is taking you a while to coat, keep coated ones in fridge. You should especially keep any cheese only ones in fridge until ready to fry. You should have enough batter for at least 6 hot dogs.
Add 2-3 hot dogs to the hot oil at a time. Cook a few minutes on both sides, until batter is dark golden brown and batter is fully cooked.
Sprinkle hot dogs with sugar. Drizzle with condiments of your choice.

NOTES

To make mozzarella sticks, buy 1 lb block of mozzrella cheese and slice into 1 inch x 4 1/2 inch sticks. You can also substitute with string cheese but keep in mind string cheese is thinner so your end result won't be as thick and there won't be as much melty cheese inside either.
Make sure you keep the cheese sticks in the fridge until right before they are to be fried, otherwise the cheese will leak.
Make sure to use low moisture mozzarella, otherwise it will melt too much when fried and will leak out.
You want to keep the batter cold. If it gets too warm, it will not stick to the hot dog and will run off. If your batter starts to get warm, you can refrigerate it until it is cold again.
No nutrition is being provided for this recipe since it is difficult to determine how much of the batter is used on each hot dog, and nutrition will vary greatly depending on the hot dog, sausage or cheese used.

This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Kirbiecravings.com. Thanks so much!