Add homemade teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, and your choice of toppings for a Japanese twist on your basic hot dog. These Japanese hot dogs are inspired by the Japadog terimayo hot dog originally from Vancouver.
First there were California rolls, and now there’s the Japadog! Yes, another amazing Japanese-Western fusion food borne out of Canada. My husband looooves hot dogs, specifically Costco brand, and while I enjoy a standard hot dog myself, sometimes I just need to mix it up a little. If that’s you too, this recipe is for you!
What is a Japadog?
In case you haven’t heard of it, Japadog is actually a series of food stands/restaurants started by a Japanese Canadian in Vancouver, B.C. As the name implies, they specialize in hot dogs with a Japanese twist on the toppings. For example, they have hot dogs topped with yakisoba, ebi tempura, karaage… and of course their famous terimayo hot dog.
I first had a Japadog when I moved to Seattle, which is only a few hours drive from Vancouver. Needless to say, my life has never been the same.
Making Easy Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
This Japanese hot dog recipe is inspired by the terimayo Japadog, which is coated in teriyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise. Of course, you could use store bought teriyaki sauce. But homemade teriyaki sauce is soooooooo much better and actually really easy to make. Store bought teriyaki sauces tend to be sickly sweet and very goopy. With homemade ones, you can alter the sweetness and thickness to however you like.
My teriyaki sauce uses one part brown sugar to two parts Japanese soy sauce, mirin, and cooking sake. Scale the recipe up or down as needed.
If you don’t cook Japanese food a lot, you may not have mirin or sake on hand. BUT IT’S SO WORTH IT! You’ll use it whenever you make my teriyaki beef or teriyaki chicken. These same ingredients also make up my easy sukiyaki recipe! Trust me, you’ll go through it fast.
Because I’m using teriyaki as a sauce and not as a marinade for this recipe, I thicken it using a cornstarch slurry, but you could always just let it boil down to thicken if you are not in a rush.
Japanese Hot Dog Toppings
Besides teriyaki sauce, you will also need Japanese mayonnaise, which, yes, is different from American mayonnaise (and much better, in my opinion). You will also need some toppings of your choice! Here are some suggestions:
- Kizami nori (shredded seaweed)
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Bonito flakes
- Furikake
- Green onions
- Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese 7 spice seasoning)
Really, you can just use whatever you think goes well with teriyaki and mayo.
More Japanese Fusion Recipes
Looking for more Japanese-Western fusion dishes? Check some of these out:
Japanese Hot Dogs (Japadog Inspired)
Ingredients
- 6 hot dogs
- 6 hot dog buns
- 1 green onion thinly sliced
- Japanese mayonnaise
- shredded nori (seaweed)
- bonito flakes
For Teriyaki Sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Japanese soy sauce
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 1/4 cup sake
- 1/2 tsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- In a medium skillet or saucepan, combine brown sugar, soy sauce, mirin, and sake. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes to burn off the alcohol.
- In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch and water into a slurry.
- Add slurry to the skillet and stir well. Continue cooking 2-3 more minutes or until the teriyaki sauce has reached your desired thickness to glaze your hot dogs. Set sauce aside and let cool while you prepare your hot dogs.
- Grill your hot dogs, brushing on some teriyaki sauce in the last minute of cooking. Toast hot dog buns, if desired.
- Assemble your Japadogs by placing your hot dog in a bun and topping with more teriyaki sauce. Add Japanese mayonnaise on top (I like to do a zig zag pattern), shredded seaweed, bonito flakes, and green onion to taste. Serve and enjoy!