Your Next Hot Dog Deserves a Bánh Mì Treat
This is an urgent hot dog public announcement: you need to ban your next dog. Immediately. Forget about mustard and seasonings, cook pickled daikon and carrots instead. This is by far the best way to eat a hot dog. After I finished rubbing my stomach in happiness, I was actually very angry that I didn’t try it sooner, and since I care about you, I want to spare you the same annoyance with yourself. Bánh mì-ed dog has officially become my favorite way to eat a hot dog and I will never go back on it.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of banh mi yet, let me introduce you. Bánh mi is a wonderfully balanced Vietnamese sandwich with a rich taste. There are many different versions, but the basic ingredients are the same. It is usually made with marinated meat (often fried pork or chicken), sliced cucumber, pickled daikon radish and carrots, cilantro sprigs, a dab of pâté , and mayonnaise (or other sauce) securely stowed in a split baguette. What you end up experiencing is each of the five pillars of flavor in one sandwich – marinated meat umami; salty, from sauce; sweet and sour, from pickled daikon and carrots; and bitter, from cilantro. Although pâté is traditional, it is not included in every iteration of ban me, and if it does not suit your taste, you can leave it out. I love topping my sandwich with chopped jalapeno, but many prefer a pinch of sriracha.
The matchup makes sense. Hot dogs are salty, juicy, hand-held meat sticks that can provide the same umami balance as marinated meat in ban mi. I know classic hot dog toppings are loved, but (to be honest) summer sausages can get a little repetitive. Maybe you’re a ketchup lover and you branched out and tried pickled condiments, or you always eat mustard but tried cheese last week. While these studies are good first steps, it’s time to spread your wings and ban me.
The traditional ban me uses a bread baguette, but if that’s not your vibe, you can absolutely stick with the softer packaged hot dog bun. I tried both and this time I didn’t have a clear preference. I thought pickled vegetables would make a hot dog bun soggy, but it doesn’t. Of course, things will get messy if you’re stupid and pour in the pickle juice, but I scooped out the pickles with a fork, gave it a little shake to remove the excess liquid, and dropped it on my dog with no problem. The baguette option was just as delicious. The chewiness of the bread made me slow down a little and enjoy the wonderful banh mi dog flavor, and the bread was a little higher so I could fit more jalapenos and cucumbers into the bun.
This recipe is prepared in about 15 minutes, with mostly simple and affordable ingredients. (Note that the picture shows the amount of ingredients I used to make two hot dogs, but the following recipe calls for four.) Daikon radishes are available in Asian grocery stores and most other grocery stores with a decent sized grocery section. They add a touch of flavor to pickled vegetables, which I love, but if you can’t find them, just use carrots.
Bang Mi style hot dogs
Ingredients:
- 4 hot dogs
- ¼ cup chopped raw carrots
- ¼ cup chopped raw daikon radish
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (¾ for fine salt)
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- ¼ cup rice vinegar (use white distilled vinegar for a stronger bite)
- ¼ cup warm water
- 4 baguette segments (cut to the length of a hot dog) or standard hot dog buns
- Mayonnaise (to taste)
- 4 cilantro (full stalks the length of a hot dog)
- 4 long cucumber slices
- Fresh or pickled jalapeno or sriracha slices (optional)
Reheat hot dogs in any way (maybe even dirty water ). While they are cooking, prepare the pickled root vegetables. Place julienned carrots and daikon in a bowl or jar, add salt, sugar, vinegar and water. Stir lightly to help dissolve the salt and sugar. Marinate 15 minutes. During this time, stir the carrots and daikon from time to time so that they marinate evenly.
Cut the baguette lengthwise, but not all the way through. Assemble the sandwich by first spreading some mayonnaise on the baguette. Add a hot dog, put a sliced cucumber on one side and pickled vegetables on the other side and on top. Add a sprig of cilantro and jalapeno or sriracha if using. Enjoy immediately. Never look back.