KOREAN CORN DOGS
- 6 hot dogs, sausages or Mozzarella sticks (for Mozzarella, cut sticks 1-inch wide and 4 ½ inches long and make sure to use low moisture Mozzarella)
- 3 pairs disposable wooden chopsticks
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- oil for frying
- granulated sugar for coating
- ketchup, mustard, spicy mayonnaise and other hot dog condiments of your choice
- Batter:
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 125 ml fat free milk cold
- 1 large egg, refrigerated
Break disposable wooden chopsticks apart and skewer your hot dogs, sausage or mozzarella. I made some with sausages, a few with cheese, and a few that are half sausage and half cheese. Pat dry the hot dogs, sausage and cheese and place into fridge to keep cold while making batter.
Add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder to a large bowl. Whisk until evenly blended. Add in milk and egg. Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. The batter should be very thick and sticky. When you lift your whisk, the batter should not run off it. You do not want the batter to be runny because then the batter will run off the hot dogs when you coat them.
Make sure to use egg and milk straight from the fridge so that the batter is cold when it’s finished.
If your kitchen is really warm, you may need to refrigerate the batter briefly to get it cold.
Pour the batter into a loaf pan. This will make it easier to coat the entire hot dog at once since you should be able fit all of it inside the loaf pan. In a separate loaf pan, add breadcrumbs.
Pour oil into pan being used for frying. You want to add enough oil so that it is deep enough to cover the entire hot dog once the hot dog is placed in. Bring oil to about 180ºC.
Remove skewers from fridge. To coat, turn the hot dog/sausage/cheese a few times in the batter until it is coated. You can then use your fingers to help evenly spread out the batter or remove some of the batter if your coating is too thick. Keep in mind that your batter will expand once it is fried so you don’t want your coating to be too thick. Make sure your hot dog, sausage and cheese is completely sealed in batter.
Roll the hot dog in panko breadcrumbs. While the sticky batter will pick up some of the breadcrumbs, I also like to sprinkle and press more on with my hands to make sure every crevice is covered in panko.
Working quickly, repeat with remaining hot dogs, sausages and cheese. If it is taking you a while to coat, keep coated ones in fridge. You should especially keep any cheese-only-ones in fridge until ready to fry. You should have enough batter for at least 6 hot dogs.
Add 2 – 3 hot dogs to the hot oil at a time. Cook a few minutes on both sides, until batter is dark golden brown and batter is fully cooked.
Sprinkle hot dogs with sugar. Drizzle with condiments of your choice.
Recipe posted and photo: Liezel van der Merwe
