How To Make A Chicago Hot Dog

You have not eaten a hot dog until you've eaten a Chicago hot dog. In just a few steps, you can enjoy this unique gastronomical delight, share it with all your friends and join an elite level of carnivorous snobs!

Steps

1. Steam a hot dog bun until soft; not soggy.
2. Place a cooked Beef hot dog in the bun.
3. Coat hot dog with yellow mustard to your liking.
4. Sprinkle with chopped onion (grilled or raw).
5. Spoon relish over onion, and then lay three sport peppers lengthwise.
6. Garnish with tomato wedges, crisp pickle spear, and celery salt to taste.

Tips

• Use only All Beef hot dogs. There is no substitute for those seeking a genuine Chicago hot dog.
• Use only yellow mustard. Use of ketchup is not recommended.
• Relish should be of a neon-green hue.
• Some purists argue that only tomato "wedges" rather than the slices (photographed above) should be used.
• Cucumbers, green pepper strips, and table salt are acceptable options.
• Fries, if served with your hot dog, should be seeping with grease and well salted.

Warnings

• Never use ketchup on a Chicago hot dog. A purist won't even have a bottle of ketchup in the same room. (If you must use ketchup, use it on your fries.)

Things You'll Need

• Steamed hot dog bun
• All Beef hot dog (steamed or charred)
• Yellow mustard
• Chopped onion (grilled or raw)
• Relish
• Sport peppers
• Tomato wedges
• Crisp pickle spear
• Celery salt

The first time I ever had a Chicago Style Hot Dog I wondered how in the world did I go for over forty years of my life with out tasting a hot dog this good. I think for your Chicago Style Hot Dog to be really good you need to grill your beef hot dogs on a charcoal grill. That's the way several of the places in downtown Chicago serve them and they are oh so delicious.

I like to serve sweet red or purple onions on my hot dogs and they have to be grilled in butter until done but not browned or burnt. Gardenia peppers which come in a jar in most supermarkets are also perfect for your Chicago Style Hot Dog.

Did you know that Chicago has more hot dog cafes and restaurants than McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King combined. The Hot Dog is one of the most popular foods in Chicago and to most people in Chicago it must be a Chicago Style Hot Dog.

Where Did Chicago Style Hot Dogs Come From?

Many people make the claim that Chicago Style Hot Dogs and their distinctive toppings came from Maxwell Street in Chicago. A place called Fluky's is said to have served the first Chicago Style Hot Dog on Maxwell Street and the rest is said to be history. It is said that they started serving the Depression Era Sandwich in 1929.

A lot of the Hot Dog stands in the Chicago area today serve hand cut french fries and they are often served with the hot dogs.

In case you don't know a Char Dog is cooked on a charcoal grill after it has been split. It is called a Char Dog because it is cooked until charred as in the photo above.

Superdawg locations in Chicago substitute a pickled tomato for the fresh ones. Some people will tell you that the tomato must be pickled to be an authentic Chicago Hotdog but that's still up to debate.

A lot of the hot dogs in the Chicago area are steamed or boiled before the sandwich is put together while others will split the all beef wiener and grill it on a charcoal grill.

Purists from Chicago say that the bun must be a poppy seed bun for the hot dog to be really good and don't think about putting a chicken wiener on a Chicago Style Hot Dog. It must be a all beef hot dog.

Your onions should be white onions and they should all be chopped fine and all should be of about the same size. The mustard should be yellow. There should be bright green hot dog relish and a dill pickle spear or two. And the tomatoes should be sliced and only from a real ripe tomato please. You can have peppers of any kind but to a person from Chicago ketchup just doesn't belong. They would probably kill you or throw you in the river if you tried to put it on their hot dog.

Some people say the buns must be steamed while others say the bun must be toasted in butter on a flat grill before you put the hot dog together. Either way works out just perfect as far as I'm concerned. If you have any questions about Chicago Style Hot Dogs feel free to post them below and I'll be quick to give you an answer.

The typical all beef wiener sold in the Chicago area weighs about 2 ounces and it is always all beef.

Hot Doug's is a Chicago Restaurant that serves delicious hot dogs and sausages in Chicago. If you are ever in Chicago be sure to stop by and spend an afternoon there eating delicious Chicago Style Hot Dogs and hand cut french fries. Yes they will let you have ketchup to go on your homemade hand cut french fries.

Just know that if you go at the wrong time of the day you can at times have to wait an hour to just get in the door at Hot Doug's. Yes their food really is that good. So be sure that if your in Chicago that you stop in and check it out.

Some Hot Dog Records You May Not Know

The world's largest hot dog was 197 feet long and it was served on a 198 foot long bun. How would you have liked to have a go at that one. The world record hot dog was made at the Akasaka Prince Hotel in Tokyo Japan.

The most expensive hot dog ever served was prepared and served by Chef Joe Calderone in Manhattan New York in 2010. The hot hog was topped with truffle oil, duck foie gras and truffle butter. It sold for $69.00 plus tax.

The Guinness World Records certified a new record for the most expensive hot dog in 2012 on May 31. It sold for $145.49 and featured a grilled 18" all beef wiener. The sales of the hot dogs went to charity. How many of those do you think you could eat?

Joey Chesnut won the world famous Nathans Hot Dog contest in 2011 by eating 62 hot dogs and buns. Can you even imagine doing that. All I can say is wow.

Thanks For Reading This Hub Page On Chicago Hot Dogs

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this Hub Page on Chicago Hot Dogs. I really hope there is a Chicago Hot Dog or two in your future real soon. If you have comments or questions please post them now. And again, thanks for reading.