Hello! Hi everyone. Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to Korean street food classics, as we take a look at the Korean corn dog, which, misleading as it may seem, actually…does not contain any corn in it at all. For those unfamiliar, the Korean corn dog or “Gamja Hotdog” is a Korean interpretation of the American Sunday backyard BBQ classic corn dog, wherein the corn meal batter that we all know and love is replaced instead with a yeasted and risen batter, wrapped around a cheese wrapped sausage, and finally coated in panko breadcrumb for its crispy exterior finish.
Then to round this all out (because obviously, wrapping a meat stick in cheese is never quite enough), a gamja dog is iconically peppered with potatoes or sometimes, diced french fries on its exterior (“gamja” meaning potato). For our version today we’re gonna play around with this absolutely intense sounding corn dog with the addition of some jalepeno peppers, as well as a few types of cheese to maximize our cheesiness. Most importantly though (as you all will come to see in a moment), like any other corn dog, its elongated shape makes for a particularly challenging deepfry, so we’ll absolutely be taking a look at…just, all of the ways not to do that. Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
4 sausages
8 slices American cheese
1 russet potato
2 jalepenos
1 cup panko breadcrumb
grated parmesan
64oz fryer oil
disposable wooden chopsticks
INGREDIENTS (batter)
2 cups AP flour
1 cup heavy cream, lukewarm
1 tbsp (1 packet) dry active yeast
1 tbsp sugar
kosher salt
PREP
COMBINE yeast, heavy cream, and sugar, then let proof for 10 minutes until bubbles form
ADD AP flour and a pinch of kosher salt, then knead until a cohesive dough forms
COVER with plastic wrap and set aside to proof in an oven with the oven light on for 1 hour
DICE the potatoes, set aside
LARGE DICE the jalepenos, set aside
BOIL a pot of water, then add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes until fork tender
SKEWER the sausages with the disposable wooden chopsticks, then cut off the extra length of skewer
WRAP the sausage in two pieces of cheese, then in a layer of dough
ADD the potatoes and jalepenos to the sides of the dough
ADD the panko breadcrumb to a tray, then firmly roll the hot dog in panko
ON THE STOVE
HEAT the fryer oil to 325F, then add the hot dogs and fry for 5 minutes until golden brown
FINISH with grated parmesan