Welcome to our street food series! Last month, we did pancakes; for April, we’re going to focus on street food. Every country has their own and their favourites. I’m going to focus on all my favourites!
We’ll start with the absolute quintessential street food, the hot dog or street meat. When I first moved to Toronto, I had no idea that grabbing some street meat meant getting a hot dog on the go. People would ask me to grab some street meat, and I would politely decline, too afraid to ask what it was and not brave enough to blindly go! You don’t want to ask what I thought it meant.
I’ve been to many places and eaten many hot dogs - even when I began eating less meat or no meat, hot dogs are still my passion. I can’t give them up. Meat in a tube shoved into some bread? I’m in heaven. The best hot dog I have ever eaten, and I’m not being biased, is Japadog in Vancouver. My apologies to NYC, Papaya King; you’re hot dogs are good, but there’s nothing like Japadog.
Japadog is a Vancouver staple and proudly Asian owned. They started in 2005 with one cart and have now expanded to California. I hope they give In and Out burger a run for their money. I had In and Out before, and it’s overrated. I know people will disagree with me, and that’s okay. We can disagree and still be friends.
Whenever I’m back in Vancouver, one of my first stops is Japadog. I’ve not been back to BC since 2019 due to the pandemic, and I’m missing these hot dogs. Until Japadog expands to Ontario, I will have to make due on my own. I’ve paid tribute to their amazing hot dogs by recreating their Terimayo and Okonomi dogs.
The Terimayo is a hot dog topped with teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayo and roasted nori.
The Okonomi is an okonomiyaki inspired hot dog with cabbage, okonomiyaki sauce and Japanese mayo. Both hot dogs have been created with a wagyu frankfurter made by Kingsway Waygu based here in Ontario.
It’s not Japadog, but it should tide me over until we can safely travel again!
In our Street Food series, we’ll be visiting Korea, Japan, Vietnam (my culinary staples), India and Trinidad - in honour of my friend David who passed away in March of 2020.
Korea - Bungeoppang 붕어빵
Japan - Takoyaki Recipe たこ焼き
Vietnam - Bánh Tráng Nướng
India - Vada Pav
Trinidad - Doubles
It’s going to be an incredible two weeks!
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