(c) Claire O'Neill

For our Memorial Day weekend barbecue, my friends and I decided to throw a surprisingly organized hot dog topping contest. It was incredibly democratic; everyone cooked in batches, making enough samples for each voter to try. Each contestant took the contest very seriously, some planning and prepping for days in advance, others reaching a stroke of genius seconds before presenting their dish (Barrett!).

We ate a lot of dogs. Claire made a beautiful Welsh rarebit-inspired hot dog, which had a lovely, bitter beer-cheese sauce and a garnish of caramelized onions and potato chips; Lori roasted corn for a sweet, buttery accoutrement along with scallions and sour cream; Becky topped her hot dog with a Spanish creation she learned from a recent trip; Darren got back to his roots and fried up some pickled okra and stirred together a spicy remoulade for his dog; and Andy somehow got away with topping his hot dog with bacon, peanut butter, Nutella and bananas.

Banh-mi inspired hot dog. (c) Claire O'Neill

I made a banh mi-inspired hot dog (pictured above). It was fairly easy to transition the Vietnamese po’ boy sandwich to hot dogs, since the basic flavor profiles (spiced meat and bread) were already there. Since a lot of the ingredients were just veggies and stuff, I made sure that the homemade elements — carrot pickles and sweet and sour sauce — were top notch. Other than that, it’s really a matter of assembly.

Recipe:

4 grilled hot dogs
4 grilled buns
1/4 red onion, sliced very thinly
4 sprigs fresh cilantro
mayonnaise
4 scallions, chopped finely
sliced cucumbers
bean sprouts
carrot pickles (see recipe below)
sweet and sour sauce (see recipe below)

Pickles:

1 large carrot, chopped into matchsticks (tedious, I know — but don’t cheat and use shredded carrot. Not the same!)
rice wine vinegar
white vinegar
2 tbs sugar
salt
lukewarm water

In a bowl, sprinkle a generous amount of salt and sugar onto the carrots and knead gently with your hands until you’ve wrung out a bit of the liquid, about three minutes. The carrots should be flexible enough not to break in half by the time you’ve been through with it. Rinse off with water and pat dry; place into a bowl. Pour in equal parts rice wine vinegar, white vinegar and water over the carrots until it covers them. Add in a sprinkling of salt and sugar, give it a stir, and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp minced Thai chili pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbs Thai sweet chili sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp chili oil

OK, I know it’s a lot of shit, but trust that it tastes good. You could really come up with your own concoction of this, just as long as it’s sweet and sour, and somehow combines fish sauce and chili. Stir this together and store in an airtight container.

TO ASSEMBLE:

Slather mayonnaise on one side of the bun and the sweet chili sauce on the other. Layer on the cucumbers and bean sprouts neatly next to the dogs. Top with drained carrot pickles, cilantro and scallions.