This Japadog inspired terimayo hot dog is a hot dog jacked up with home-made teriyaki sauce and Japanese mayo. It’s not like any hot dog you have had before.
Never heard of Japadog? Not a huge shocker. It’s a guy in Vancouver with a street cart. A bunch of street carts in fact. Making all sorts of funky Japanese influenced hot dogs. Street food. Every city has it. Vancouver has the Japadog.
But it’s not just Vancouver anymore. They have street carts in LA now. And Santa Monica. How long can it be before Japadog rules the world? 100 years I think. Max. But you don’t have to wait. You can make this at home.
Japadog is the next hot dog craze
Still not convinced? Google Japadog Bourdain. There’s a clip on youtube. Ignore the part where he berates his producer. That’s a joke. If you watch the whole episode you’ll see.
To be fair, Bourdain is a fan of meat in tube form. Period. So he is pre-disposed. Favourably biased. A fan really. Don’t think I have ever seen him turn his nose up to to any tube steak.
But it is good. I like it. A lot. And I don’t really like hot dogs. The terimayo and the bahn mi versions are about all I go for. Maybe a Chicago dog once in a while.
This is a glebekitchen twist on the Japadog Terimayo. They serve it with slices of nori. I like green onions better. So this one has green onions.
But you could add the nori back in if you want the real deal. Just slice some up. Sprinkle it on top. No big deal. Try it both ways.
I will post a banh mi version at some point. But this isn’t going to become hotdog.com. Don’t worry…
Japanese mayo is not the same
The most important thing about the terimayo hot dog is the mayo. This is a Japanese hot dog. Japanese mayo is critical. It is different. Very different. Not Hellmann’s. Not Duke’s. Just not the same. So don’t try. It’s wrong.
It’s not hard to find. Japanese mayo goes by the name Kewpie mayo. Hard to believe. But true. You can get it in most Asian markets. It’s a secret ingredient.
Even if you don’t try this recipe get some Kewpie mayo. Try it. It is amazing stuff. I love my Hellmann’s. But for certain things, Kewpie cannot be beat.
This isn’t the easiest hot dog you are ever going to make. You need to fry down onions. Make teriyaki sauce. Find Kewpie mayo. Quality hot dogs. Good buns. But it’s worth it. Japadog style terimayo hot dogs. Sounds crazy. But it’s really good.
japadog style terimayo hot dogs
Ingredients
- 6 large hot dogs - whatever you like but big..
- 6 hot dog buns - better quality is better but you don't want a huge amount of bread so huge is not good.
- 3 cooking onions - sliced thin
- 6 tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise - more or less. You are drizzling to taste.
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- shichimi togarashi - optional and to taste
- green onions, sesame seeds and nori - whatever works for you
Teriyaki sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
Teriyaki sauce
- Combine all the ingredients except the cornstarch in your smaller sauce pan.
- Bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered. Simmer. If you go higher than a simmer you will boil it dry and you will not be happy. Best to keep an eye on it in any case.
- Mix the cornstarch with a splash of water to form a slurry. Stir the slurry into the simmering teriyaki sauce. Simmer another 1-2 minutes until thickened. Cool. Set aside.
Fry the onions
- No rocket science here. Pull out a big frying pan. Heat the oil over medium heat.
- Add the onions and cook until they are a melting mess of tasty. Super soft. Reduced. Tasty, mushy delicious. That's what you are after. You will need to watch them. Sprinkle with a bit of shichimi togarashi if you like. This isn't critical - just another little something.
The hot dogs
- Grill the hot dogs until they are warmed through and look good. Grill the buns. Just like normal. Nothing special here.
Assemble the Japadog terimayo hot dog
- Line up the toasted buns. Place 1/6 of the fried onions in each bun. Put the hot dogs on top of the onions. Drizzle with teriyaki sauce and Kewpie mayo. Don't skimp. This is the flavour. Top with sesame seeds and green onions.
Nutrition
I found your blog today. We have similar tastes and preferences and stuff in our pantry, will continue to follow. I appreciate that your recipe writeups are informative instead of having to scroll past endless SEO boosting tmi .
Count this as one vote for the banh mi dog recipe. There’s a movie theater in my area that serves kimchi dogs, sometimes I get a craving and buy some hot dogs to dress with the big jar of kimchi in my fridge. Would be extremely interested in your take on banh mi (imo the best sandwich in the world) hot dogs.
Delighted you found it and even more so that you are a kindred soul. I’ll give the banh mi hot dog some thought. I do love that sandwich as well.
Hi Romain, this was the second best hotdog I have ever had! (Nothing can beat the danish hotdogs I had as a child.) Perfect fast food with slow food taste for busy week days! Thanks for sharing!
Not my invention. Japadog is a Vancouver standard!
Turned out great! Thank you!
You are very welcome. This is a fun one!
Looks interesting, can you substitute a store bought Teriyaki sauce for your home-made Teriyaki?
I’ve never tried that. If the consistency is thick enough (the cornstarch is key in this case) and it’s not crazy salty I don’t see why not.