It strikes me that most people think of a hot dog on a bun as a blank canvas, awaiting the addition of mustards, ketchup, relish, onions, sour kraut, etc. to complete its gustatory allness.
Me? I prefer them nekkid. I think they should be able to stand on their own. I like mine plain.
Mustard ( preferably non-fancy spicy brown like your standard Gulden’s ) and fresh roughly chopped onions ( preferably sweet yellow ). And ONLY those two things.
I eat them two at a time: One with yellow mustard, one with ketchup . . . and alternate when eating them. Toppings can vary, and may include raw onions, grilled onions, sweet relish, sauerkraut, baked beans, melted sharp cheddar, ranch dressing, or whatever else I may have on hand.
I can go a variety of ways depending on what sort of mood I’m in and the quality of the dog in the bun. I can do plain, sauerkraut and mustard, Chicago garden style, chili dog. But never ketchup.
Just ketchup on mine. I have found that it’s a lot easier to eat if I put the ketchup on the bun first, and then the hot dog. If I do that, I don’t wind up with the ketchup all over my face.
I’m not too picky. a run-of-the-mill hot dog either gets ketchup and mustard, or is a Coney. most other sausage-in-bun combos like brats, stadium kielbasa, knockwurst, etc. gets a generous schmeer of hot mustard and that’s about it. but in general I won’t turn my nose up at much of anything except if it has anything on it which contains the words “sweet pickle.”
but I don’t want to hear about a “Chicago-style” hot dog. That thing seems like something someone came up with on a dare.
yeah, agreed. hot dogs are pretty gross. even the thought of them kinda icks me out. doesn’t stop me from craving one once in a great while though. when i do have one i have it with ketchup and mustard.
The design of a hot dog is inherently unable support anything but a viscous fluid like mustard or ketchup (which is wrong from the point of view of flavor). Anything else falls right off. That’s telling you something.
I like 'em all kinds of ways. At the ballpark, just mustard. At home, anything goes. Chili, kraut, ketchup, onions, relish, whatever. Usually not all at once. A couple times, on vacation, I ate an Oriole Dog (cream cheese, peanut butter, grape jelly - it’s simultaneously disgusting and delicious)
An Oscar Myers frank straight from the microwave tastes best with chili, cheese, ketchup, and onion, though just ketchup will do in a pinch, if that’s all I’ve got. But I’ve got this great hot dog place near my house that makes them with everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you could think of. I had one with chili and cole slaw the other day that was deliciously interesting.