Banh Mi Spiral Cut Hot Dog Recipe

Next time you're feeling a hankering for a hot dog, give this fusion dish a try. Crispy, pan-fried hot dogs are paired with tangy, pickled carrots, cool cucumber, spicy jalapeno, fragrant cilantro, and a drizzle of spicy sriracha mayo, to give that familiar barbecue favorite a whole new life.

Plain old hot dogs take an exciting turn when spiral cut, creating a plethora of nooks and crannies that crisp up beautifully when pan-fried. Add to that the complex variety of flavors and textures that we expect from a banh mi, and you have yourself a spectacular new dish that seamlessly fuses two familiar favorites into a bite that is greater than the sum of its parts.

This recipe is designed to be approachable to cooks of all skill levels. While there may be some new techniques for the starting cook, the whole process only takes about half an hour. And, when you're finished, you'll not only never again want to eat a plain hot dog with ketchup and mustard, but you'll have some new tricks up your sleeve and a brand new way to serve up an old classic.

In this recipe you will not only be making beautiful, crisp, spiral-cut hot dogs, but also quick-pickled carrots to add acidity and crunch, as well as a sriracha mayo to drizzle over the top. Before you start cooking you need to gather the hot dogs, buns, cucumber, jalapenos, scallions, cilantro, mayonnaise, sriracha, rice vinegar, salt, sugar, ginger, and garlic.

Make the pickled carrot brine by combining the water, rice vinegar, salt, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved.

Place the carrots, garlic, and ginger in a heat-safe container and pour over the hot brine. Set this aside for now.

Make the sriracha mayo by stirring together mayonnaise, sriracha, and rice vinegar in a small bowl. Transfer this to a squeeze bottle, if you have one.

To spiral-cut the hot dogs, place them on a cutting board and slice crosswise every ¼-inch. Aim to slice only halfway through with each cut. You can place chopsticks on the sides to keep from cutting too deep.

After you've sliced one side, flip the hot dog over and repeat, except this time slice at a 45-degree angle. Once sliced as such, the hot dog should remain in one piece and have a nice spiraling, slinky-like cut.

Bring a skillet to medium-high heat and add one tablespoon of neutral oil.

Add the hot dogs and fry for around 2 minutes on each side, until they are warmed through and all of the edges are nicely crisped.

Place each hot dog on a roll and garnish with pickled carrots, cucumber, jalapeno, scallions, cilantro, and sriracha mayo.

It will come as no surprise that the quick-pickled carrots in this recipe are perfect to be made ahead. In fact, they may even be tastier if prepared a few days in advance. Quick pickles, also called refrigerator pickles, are a speedy way to not only preserve the crunchy texture of vegetables, but also enhance their flavor with salt, aromatics, and acidity. The process of quick-pickling, as you see in this recipe, only requires heating brine and pouring it over the vegetables, but the longer they are allowed to steep, the deeper the aromatic flavors of the ginger and garlic get into the carrots.

Unlike fermented foods, quick-pickles are not meant to be stored on the counter. They will spoil, and must be kept in the refrigerator, but, properly stored, they will keep for a week or more. So, if you want to make the pickles the same day, that works great, but you can also make them well ahead and have that part of the meal checked off before you even start cooking. Just be careful you don't accidentally eat them all before dinner (they are pretty delicious, after all).

If you too have fallen victim to the sriracha shortage, don't worry, there are other options out there. The Huy Fong brand is certainly the most familiar variety of sriracha, coming in that famous clear bottle emblazoned with a white rooster and topped with a bright green cap, but if you can't find that flagship at your local market, there are other brands out there. Particularly after the 2022 crop failure of the red jalapenos on which Huy Fong relied, many other hot sauce makers stepped in to fill the void in the market. While each brand has a slightly different recipe and flavor, and the Huy Fong brand is still king, any brand can be used in this recipe. You might just want to tweak the seasoning a little bit if you choose another brand. Sweetness tends to be the largest area of variation in sriracha recipes, so depending on which way your bottle leans, a pinch of sugar or salt will likely get you closer to that familiar taste.

If spicy foods aren't your favorite, and you want to skip the sriracha entirely, that's okay too. Traditional banh mi is often served with plain mayonnaise, so that is a fine alternative. Just smear a bit on the bun before you add the hot dog, and you are good to go.