The ‘It’ Restaurant Order This Summer? A Hot Dog - WSJ

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Life & WorkFood & Drink

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Make the chaat: On a hot grill or in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, lightly char corn on all sides. Then char the poblano pepper until the skin is well blistered and the pepper starts to soften. When corn cobs are cool enough to handle, use a sharp knife to cut corn kernels from cob. Place kernels in a large bowl and discard cobs. Remove the poblano's blistered skin, stem and seeds. Lay poblano flat, cut into strips, then roughly chop.Add oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat. When oil shimmers, add onions and half the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion starts to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until mixture begins to caramelize, about 3 minutes more, making sure it does not burn. You want it to be a toasty brown.Stir in corn kernels and remaining salt, and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, until flavors are meld, 5-10 minutes.Transfer corn mix to a mixing bowl. Stir in chaat masala, cilantro-mint chutney minced poblano and lime juice. Combine well, taste and adjust flavors as needed. If not using right away, refrigerate until ready to use.Assemble the hot dogs: On a hot grill or in sauté pan over medium-high heat, cook the hot dogs, turning occasionally, until nicely blistered. While the dogs are cooking, liberally brush both sides of buns with ghee. In a separate sauté pan, cook buns until toasted,1-2 minutes per side. Transfer buns to a platter and cradle a hot dog firmly inside each bun. Top each with about 2 tablespoons corn mixture. Drizzle with chutneys. Shower each dog with 1 tablespoon each fried onions, sev and boondi. Garnish each with a pinch of chaat masala, 3-4 fresh cilantro leaves and 2 pickled peppers. For added spice, finish with a teaspoon of the pickled-pepper brine. Eat over a plate and make sure to have a napkin ready.

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Preheat a grill to 375 degrees if using a pellet grill; to low heat if using gas; or for indirect cooking if using charcoal. Place a paper towel on the end of your bottle of grapeseed oil and flip it so that the paper towel absorbs a little bit of oil. Grip oiled paper towel with tongs and carefully apply oil to grill grate to make sure bacon does not stick while cooking.Cut a couple slits into each hot dog so they won’t burst while grilling. Carefully wrap each dog with bacon, using a toothpick or two to secure bacon to hot dog. Try to get it as tightly wound as you can. In a bowl, carefully toss onions with oil, making sure to keep large pieces intact.Carefully place hot dogs on grill, along with whole bell peppers, jalapeños and oiled onions. Cover grill and let cook. After 15 minutes, flip hot dogs and vegetables, and cover grill again. After another 15 minutes, the hot dogs should be nicely grilled and the bacon a little crispy.Remove hot dogs and vegetables from grill. When grilled bell peppers and jalapeños have cooled enough to handle, slice them in half and remove seeds. Cut peppers into strips. Place hot dog buns, facedown, on grill and toast until lightly browned. To assemble, place hot dogs in buns and layer with bell peppers, jalapeños and onions. Drizzle with as much mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard as you like.

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Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the pork belly. Add salt, peppercorn, bay leaves and three whole cloves garlic. Set over high heat and bring to a boil.Cut pork belly into 3-4 even pieces so they will fit in the pot and cook efficiently. Add pork belly pieces to pot and lower heat to maintain a simmer. Cook until pork belly is fork-tender, about 45 minutes. While the pork is cooking, make the atchara: ln a small pot, combine vinegar, sugar, bay leaves and peppercorns, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once sugar has dissolved, remove pot from heat and set aside to cool partially. In a large bowl, combine papaya, carrots, sliced garlic and onions. Pour warm vinegar mixture over vegetables. Season with salt to taste. Store in an airtight container and cool in the fridge. Make the curry mayo: In a bowl, mix curry paste, mayonnaise, vinegar and salt until fully incorporated. Salt to taste and set aside.Preheat oven to 200 degrees. When pork belly is done simmering, drain and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake pork belly in oven until it dries out a bit, 30 minutes. Let pork belly cool 15 minutes if using right away, or leave it in the fridge for a few days until ready to use. Once pork belly is cool enough to handle, chop into roughly ½-inch cubes.Set a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon canola oil. When it shimmers, add chopped pork belly to pan. (Be careful: If there is still some water in the pork belly, it will pop and crackle.) Season pork belly with salt and add bonito flakes. Brown pork on all sides, moving every minute or so. Once sisig is browned and crispy, after 5-8 minutes, turn off heat. Add bell peppers, minced garlic, onions and chiles to the pan, and toss to mix. Add lime juice and toss to incorporate. Assemble the hot dogs: On a hot grill or in saute pan over medium-high heat, cook hot dogs, turning occasionally, until nicely blistered. While the dogs are cooking, brush potato buns with a little oil. Don’t open up the bun: It will break. In a separate pan, toast top and bottom of buns until it warm. One at a time, open up the toasted buns and spread with a thin layer of curry mayo. Insert hot dog on top of mayo, so it is securely in place. Spoon a layer of sisig on top of hot dog. Delicately place atchara on top using tweezers. Finish with a generous sprinkle of scallions and fried shallots.