How To Turn Your Hot Dogs Into Adorable Octopuses

While bento boxes have been used in Japan for about a millennium, folks in the United States only began exploring this efficient and creative lunch on the go less than a decade ago. There are many different kinds of bento, not to mention the boxes they come in. And creating whimsical, nutritious bentos for kids — or kids at heart — has become something of an art form. Shaping rice, nori, proteins and vegetables into popular cartoon characters, colorful flowers, and cute animals for a loved one's lunch is considered an edible sign of affection and care. If you're maxed out on Hello Kitty rice balls and veggie flowers, maybe add some adorable hot dog octopuses to your repertoire.

Hot dog octopuses (also called tako sausages) are fanciful, easy-to-make additions for any lunch, even if you're not packing a bento box. To make them, you just cut the ends of the hot dogs in strips, leaving the top intact, then cook the hot dog to make the ends curl up. As simple as it is, there are a few simple variations.

The technique used to make the octopuses takes advantage of the way proteins coagulate and shrink when cooked and the way hot dogs are made. All sausages are created by stuffing seasoned ground meat into a casing. A small stuffing horn helps the meat into the casing in a U shape, which can reinforce the curling or cupping effect of some sausages. It's not a wonder the thinner-cut "legs" of the octopus curl when heated.

But the real fun comes in the variations. You can use full-size hot dogs, cut those in half, or opt for smaller sausages like little smokies. Leave the top third of them uncut to use as the head or wrap it in your favorite refrigerator dough (think crescent, biscuit, or pizza dough) and cut the other end into four or eight strips for tentacles. Then all you have to do is pop your hot dogs on a griddle with butter or bake, pan-fry, deep-fry, boil or microwave them. The "tentacles" will curl up while cooking. 

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You can cut eyes and a nose with a knife or place black sesame seeds, peppercorns, or small pieces of cut-up nori (before baking if you're using dough for the head). Then finish off your bento by creating an octopus garden (aka lunch) with sides such as veggies, rice, boiled egg, and crisp seaweed.