The Danger Dog
The danger dog is a California classic, no matter what you call it. You'll generally find these bacon-wrapped dogs sold from unlicensed carts outside concerts, ballgames, county fairs, high-traffic dives, and other places drunk and stoned people tend to congregate. I know that LA and the Mission (the San Francisco Mission, that is) sometimes like to claim them as their own local things, but the danger dog actually comes to us all from our good neighbors down in TJ. That’s pretty cool, though, right? They can build a big wall between the two Californias and put a bunch of assholes and cameras all along it, but our collective hot dog culture is bigger than all of that.
“Wow, that’s so cool and your opinions are objectively correct, but why is it called a danger dog?”
It’s called a danger dog because the people selling them sometimes leave the bacon package sitting out in the heat all day. I’ve never gotten sick from one or even worried about it, but that’s why. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably either a misguided transplant or some flavor of local dipshit.
anyways,
Other acceptable names I’ve heard in the past include: TJ dog, Baja dog, LA dog, Mission dog, Mexican dog, dogo, doggo (this one’s on thin ice, though), bacon-wrapped dog, street dog, cart dog, concert dog, doguero dog, and “those hot dogs they sell outside the [place].”
WHAT YOU NEED
- 1 hot dog
- 1 strip of bacon
- 1 hot dog bun
- some sliced yellow onions - little rectangle strips
- some sliced peppers - little rectangle strips (the carts generally use only bell peppers, but I like a higher proportion of jalapeño on mine. If I'm just cooking for me, I'll do all-jalapeño or even add a bit of serrano if I'm feeling it)
- mayo
- ketchup
- american yellow mustard
- optional: a grilled jalapeño on the side
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HOW-TO
- Wrap your dog with bacon and set it in a pan. If the bacon doesn't want to hold right, you can put toothpicks through the stubborn parts to keep them attached.
- Heat the pan up over medium heat. When the bacon grease starts to release, add the onions and jalapeños. Salt lightly.
- Turn the dog over occasionally so all parts of the bacon on the dog get to cook evenly. You're done when the bacon is cooked through on all sides and the veggies a starting to brown.
- Warm up your bun the way you like, lay the dog in the bun.
- Top with zig-zags of mayo, ketchup, and mustard, then add the veggies. If you're having a grilled chile on the side, you can just set that on top of everything else.
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NOTES
- I always cook this in a pan to mimic the flat-top cart setup. The carts are usually homemade, with a grill-top that looks like a repurposed baking sheet on top of some kind of burner. I think that's what a lot of them actually are, to be honest.