Today I’m going to show you some fun Korean street food: a hot dog on a stick with french fries! In Korean we call this a gamja-hotdog. “Hotdog” because in Korea the American-style hot dog of a wiener in a bun is not usual. Our “hotdogs” are on sticks coated with batter and deep fried, similar to what Americans call a “corn dog” but unlike American corn dogs its not made with cornmeal batter.
The street vendors of Korea sell many kind of hot dogs on a stick, but this is my favorite version. Some of them have cheese inside, and some have a wiener and cheese, but this version has tiny pieces of potato embedded in the batter! So you get a sausage covered with delicious, fluffy dough, and then crunchy french fries on the outside. This gamja-hotdog is very big! So if you have one of these with a glass of milk it’s a simple meal.
I heard that these are very popular in Koreatown in Los Angeles. They sell them in snack bars and they are popular among Koreans and Americans both. Good to know that their favorite version is my favorite version! The fun thing about making this is that the potato always sticks to the batter no matter how many you put on! So fun, and the French fries are so yummy! Some day I will make another video showing you how to make the cheese version.
I mentioned in my video that it’s also called a Mandeugi hotdog (만득이 핫도그). There were a popular series of jokes in Korea in the 90s about a guy named Mandeugi who was always chased by a ghost. I don’t know who first called this a Mandeugi hotdog but everyone in Korea knows it. It’s also called an “ugly hotdog” (못난이 핫도그, monnani hotdog) because the outside is lumpy and not smooth. And also it is called a goblin’s club hotdog (도깨비방망이 핫도그, dokkaebi-bangmangi hotdog), because it looks like a big goblin’s club covered in spikes. So many different names for this hotdog!
I hope you guys enjoy healthy food all the time, but once in a while we can have something like this, don’t you think so? And to make a vegan version of this, just substitute a vegan sausage for the uncured beef sausage.
Please show me your hotdog! I can’t wait to see what you make!
Ingredients
Serves 4
For dough:
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoons white or brown sugar
- 1 package dry yeast (about 2 teaspoons)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1¾ cup all purpose flour
For the hotdog & french fries:
- 4 uncured beef hot dogs, pat dried
- 4 disposable wooden chopsticks
- 1 pound peeled potato, cut into ¼ inch small cubes, rinsed and soaked in cold water
- 2 tablespoons all purpose wheat flour
- ½ cup Korean bread crumbs (ppang-garu) or Japanese panko breadcrumbs
- corn or vegetable oil for frying
- sugar, ketchup, and yellow mustard (optional)
Directions
Make dough:
- Combine the warm water and sugar in a bowl. Stir well.
- Add the active dry yeast and let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast melts.
- Add the salt and flour. Mix well with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes until it turns smooth without any lumps at all.
- Cover and let it sit until the volume doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Prepare the potato & skewers:
- Boil a quart of water in a pan. Drain the potato and add it to the boiling water. Blanch for 2 minutes.
- Drain the potato and rinse in cold running water to remove any excess starch.
- Drain the potato and dry out out the pieces with a cotton cloth or paper towel.
- Put the potato into a bowl and mix with 2 tablespoons flour. Set aside.
- Skewer the hot dogs on skewers or wooden chopsticks.
Shaping and frying:
- Heat 4 inches of oil in a large frying pan or wok to 320°F- 330°F. The pan should be deep and wide enough to immerse at least one hot dog plus the stick. If you don’t have kitchen thermometer, use a wooden chopstick to dip a bit of dough into the oil. If it bubbles vigorously, it’s ready to fry!
- Place the diced potato on your cutting board next to your bread crumbs and your batter, all in a row. Coat a hot dog skewer with the batter, turning the skewer around so it’s fully covered. You can use your hands to shape it a bit, if you need to! Then roll it in the potato bits, and pack them into the batter a bit with your hands, until they stick. Then roll it in the breadcrumbs until it’s completely covered before dropping the battered dog into the hot oil.
- Fry for 6 to 7 minutes and use tongs to take it out. Repeat with all of your hot dog skewers.
Dust and garnish:
- You can garnish as you like, but Korean street vendors lightly dust each hot dog in sugar, and then drizzle both ketchup and yellow mustard over top.
- Serve and eat right away!
While at college, my son got home too late for the dining hall and made the mistake of browsing food videos. He came across Gamja Hotdogs… on an empty stomach. It was a tough 8 hours for him. He recently came home from spring break with this recipe in hand.
Tonight, we tried it. And it was AWESOME.
Thank you for the recipe!
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Thank you for sharing the cute story and the photo of your gamja-hotdog!
It seems like you took the photo right after making it. I can almost feel the heat and crunchiness of those small potato pieces.
Kamsahmnida Maangchi, this recipe turned out great!!! Will definitely be cooking this for my family soon :))
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Great! Happy cooking!
Hello, can we store the dough for later use? And for how many days it will stay fresh !
Thanks so much for another fantastic recipe, Maangchi! They were a crowd pleaser with my pastry students and colleagues. 아주 맛있게 먹었어요. 감사합니다~
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You made such a great looking gamja-hotgog! : ) “…with my pastry students and colleagues.” That’s so cool!
Thank you for the encouragement, Maangchi. I look forward to trying out more of your delicious recipes that never disappoint! :)
Hi maangchi! I just recently joined your website and Im excited to try making this! I wanted to ask if I can use instant yeast instead of dry yeast?
I always use the instant dry yeast, if that’s what you mean
thanks for the recipe! it’s super easy to make, succeeded on the first attempt! tho rolling batter is quite tricky but it get easy to handle after several try
i love how the crunchiness of potato complements the sweetness of bread, definitely a late-night snack that anyone should try!
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Congratulations! Your golden brown gamja-hotdog looks so tasty with the crunchy potato chips outside.
Yes, rolling the batter is tricky but I learned the method from a Korean street vendor. You have to roll it so quickly using both hands not to make it fall apart before adding it to hot oil.
We made these with the kids for dinner tonight and they were a huge hit!
One of the other reviewers suggested putting flour on the hot dogs to help the batter stick and that really helped.
Also we used the extra batter and potatoes to make fried potato balls which were also delicious. :)
We’ll be making these again in the future! Thank you Maangchi!
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It looks so crunchy and delicious! Fantastic!
These are so good! I will make them again! 감사합니다
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I love the photo not only the perfect looking gamja-hotdog but your hand! : ) The nail polish goes well with the green background!
Wow! These are even more delicious than I hoped they would be. Certainly worth the work to make them.
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Congratulations!
So crunchy and easy!
Pardon oily pap towel. Corn dogs were already gone when I returned to the kitchen to make more photos
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Yummy!
Fun and tasty recipe for the Fourth of July! Thanks Maangchi! The crevices of the potato gives a lovely texture. We’d love to experiment with different spices and flavorings on top. Do you have a recommendation?
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These were so crunch-ity crisp-ity delicious! Wow! Next time I’ll add a little more flour to the dough, and lightly dust the hot dogs in flour to help it stick a little better. It’s my first time making or eating these. When I took my first bite, I started to say, “Oh! We can make these again every…” and my spouse chimed in, “twice a week!?!?” We loved them. It’ll be a crowd pleaser the next time we have kids over.
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Very tasty! I used to eat at snowy village in nyc but they closed down. Was so happy to find your recipe!
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Really fast to do and the result is really crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside… miam!
Personnally i used 2 full Cups of flour because with 1 3/4 cup, the dough was a little bit liquid and didn’t stick well to the sausage, and the potatoe neither because it’s so heavy (but I presume it depends on the flour)! I also recommand to coat the sausage with a bit of flour so it stick perfectly.
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Gamja hot dog with wine! It looks fantastic!
Oh these were lovely! I had to do some alterations to make them gluten free, but it worked.
I used more water because the dough was to thick, and the potatoes didn’t stick super well, but with tricky work, they stayed on. The only bad thing about them is I want to eat more of them and I’m full!!
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They look so crunchy and delicious! Did you use gluten free flour?
“.. but with tricky work, they stayed on.” Great! Everybody needs tricky work. : )
Kamsahamnida Ms. Maangchi. I really really love your recipes… My family and I love Korean dishes. I’ve tried this recipe twice and it’s always a hit.
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