Korean-Style Corndogs

Corndogs and pronto pups are the best “State Fair” food ever invented. A delicious hotdog dipped in a cornmeal batter and deep fried. What’s not to love?

Not a culture to be outmatched, though, the Koreans have taken the basic corndog to new and delicious levels previously unseen in the Western world. What are they doing? Adding crazy ingredients to the outside of the batter, such as panko and crushed dried ramen noodles, and tons of other stuff. Check online some of the super-inventive things the Korean’s are doing with the ultimate street food.

In the case with today’s recipe, I just wanted to try out the panko version and avoid using hotdogs, which turned out great! I also made a shrimp dog, which was good, but less good than the corndogs.

Want you’ll need

This batter:

• 1.5 cups fine yellow corn meal
• 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
• 0.25 cup granulated sugar
• 1T baking powder
• 1.75 cups buttermilk
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1T oil (olive or vegetable)
• 1T honey or maple syrup
• 0.25 cups panko, per corndog—evenly spread across a plate with slightly raised edges

• Whatever kind of precooked hotdogs or sausages you like (I used chicken-spinach sausages, to good effect)
• Corndog sticks
• Oil for frying

What to do for the batter

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl, except for the panko. Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl. Then stir the dry ingredients (not the panko) into the wet ingredients to make the batter. For the half-recipe of this batter that I made, I did end up adding 2T extra of each cornmeal and flour to get the consistency I wanted.

What to do for corndog assembly and cooking

When your batter is made, add a few inches of oil into whatever vessel you’re using to cook and heat the oil to 350 – 375 degrees F. Use an instant-read or candy thermometer to monitor the temperature.

Skewer each hot dog or sausage with a stick, leaving about 1.5 – 2 inches sticking out. Making sure the outside of the hot dog is dry, submerge it into the batter, ensuring that batter is clinging to all of the hot dog’s surface. Holding the hot dog by the stick, roll it across the panko, ensuring that the entirety of the batter exterior has panko stuck to it. Now carefully lower it into the oil and hold it suspended in the oil for about 20 seconds before letting it go completely into the oil. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN DOING THIS—DON’T LET YOUR FINGERS TOUCH THE HOT OIL. Let the corndog cook for a few minutes before carefully removing it with tongs to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat for each corndog.

Serve hot with your favorite condiments slathered on.

What to do for the shrimp on a stick

For the battered shrimp on a stick, skewer a large, peeled and deveined shrimp through the thickest portion, skewering towards the tail. Dry the outside of the shrimp with a paper towel before rolling the shrimp into the corndog batter. When the outside of the shrimp is covered in batter put it into the hot oil, letting it cook for about 2 minutes before serving. Possible condiments could be spring roll sauce or hoisin sauce.