The Adventures of Rob & Lauren

Right now, as you likely know, the Winter Olympics are going on in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Vancouver is about a 12 hour drive from where we live in Edmonton, so definitely not a quick trip. Usually that’s not such a big deal. But as we’ve been watching Olympic coverage while we work, we’ve frequently seen them talking about a food phenomenon that has everyone in Vancity obsessing: Japadog.

In case you haven’t heard of Japadogs before, they are hot dogs with really unique Japanese-style toppings. I’ve never had the pleasure of enjoying one, but my mouth certainly starts watering every time I see them! People have actually been standing in line for over an hour for one of these! Sadly, they don’t have any stands in Edmonton. It seemed like we would never enjoy the culinary delight of a hot dog with some Japanese flair.

But then, Rob had a brilliant idea! He suggested we try to make them ourselves. With a small bit of research I was able to come up with the ingredients for one of their most popular dogs, the Terimayo. So we headed to our local supermarket and the adventure began!

Make Your Own Japadog

First up, your ingredients:

You’ll need the following to make your very own Japadog:

- Hot dogs: We used these neat Piri Piri flavoured smokies because we wanted to know how they tasted, but based on my research I’d say either 100% beef hot dogs, or Jalapeno Cheese Smokies would be acceptable choices. Or really whatever you want. There are no rules here.

- Hot dog buns: The key to a successful hot dog is to make sure your bun to meat ratio is correct. Don’t buy a bun that’s way too big, or you’ll regret it. I’m serious.

- White onion: I found the fried onion to be a fantastic part of the hot dog, and would definitely make it a must on this one. One medium onion was enough for four hot dogs, and generous onion toppings. 

- Teriyaki sauce: Go for a thick teriyaki sauce. This Kikkoman stuff was stellar. 

- Japanese mayo: Local supermarkets here in Edmonton have carried this stuff for a long time. I have no idea if you will be able to find it, but hey, go for it! Honestly it tasted quite a bit like regular mayo, but it was good anyway :) If you can’t find it, go for regular mayo, or get fancy and add some miso paste to your mayo. I’m totally gonna try that out next time. 

- Sushinori: This is dried seaweed that is generally used for making sushi. At our supermarket we had no problem finding it and there was a ton of variety. Just head down your “Ethnic/World/Asian” aisle and hopefully you’ll find it! Go for the large sheets, and not the small sheets that are individually packaged. Those bad boys are for snacking, and are quite a bit more salty, which would probably be overpowering. On their own though, we really dig those, and snack on them quite often!

This Japanese mayo was worth the cost just for that really trippy mascot. 

Scooter has a tendency to be very curious about what we’re up to. He likes to be right in the middle of the action. 

I LOVE fried onions, so I definitely don’t skimp!

This is the type of seaweed we found. Tasty!

Best cat in the world. We missed him so much, and are so happy to get to hang out with him again!

Fry those bad boys up. I make sure to do this first since frying onions takes a little while. 

This is what a sheet of the seaweed looks like out of the package. 

I folded the sheet in half the long way, and then in half again. It tore in part quite easily. Score!

Grab yourself some “kitchen shears” (aka. the super sharp scissors that came with your knife set) and cut those bad boys up! Go for nice thin strips. 

Cook your hot dogs/smokies according to package directions. That is all. 

Now, if you’re going to have a kick-ass Japanese style hot dog, you need a kick-ass Japanese style beverage to go with it. We chose a nice, icy-cold Sapporo. 

Man, making these hot dogs is easy! All you have to do is assemble now!

Yum. Japanese mayo. 

Dinner ready just in time for a night of watching the Olympics!! Good times!

So, if you’re like us, and unable to get yourself a real Japadog, definitely try this out!! It was AMAZING. Honest. We couldn’t believe how good that combo of flavours is. It was also crazy easy to do. From start to finish it only took about 20 minutes, and all the ingredients were easily found in our large supermarket. One day we will journey to Vancouver and have a real Japadog, but until then, this is a pretty darn good substitute!

Lots of love,

Lauren & Rob (whose tummies are very very happy!)