New Jersey Italian Hot Dog
Hot dogs fried in oil with peppers, onions and potato rounds, stuffed into a pocket of round Italian pizza bread over a line of mustard.
Jimmy Buff's opened in 1932 at 14th Avenue and 9th Street in Newark, founded by James "Jimmy" Racioppi and his wife Mary. Mary's original was half a loaf of pizza bread, hollowed out and filled with two fried dogs, fried onions and peppers, sliced potatoes and mustard, first called the "Newark Hot Dog". Family lore says the sandwich grew out of Racioppi's card games and that "Buff" came from his bluffing. Jimmy Buff's still runs in West Orange and Kenilworth.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Hot dogs fried in oil with peppers, onions and potato rounds, stuffed into a pocket of round Italian pizza bread over a line of mustard.
🇦🇹 The original
In Vienna the same sausage comes in a pair, warmed in water below the boil, with mustard, horseradish and the roll on the side, not around it. See the Frankfurter Würstel with Mustard and a Roll recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
One pot of oil
Frying the potatoes first and the dogs and vegetables after means everything picks up the same savory, fried flavor, the way the Newark counters do it.
A bread pocket, not a bun
A thick wedge of round pizza bread holds potatoes, peppers and the dog without falling apart, and soaks up the oil and mustard.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oil in a deep heavy skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat to 325°F to 350°F, about 8 minutes.
- Step 2
Fry the potato rounds in batches, turning, until golden and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain on a rack and salt them. Lower the heat to medium.
- Step 3
In the same oil, fry the onion and pepper for 4 minutes, until they soften.
- Step 4
Add the hot dogs and fry with the vegetables, turning, for 5 minutes, until the dogs are blistered and steaming hot (165°F for higher-risk eaters) and the vegetables start to brown at the edges. Drain everything on the rack.
- Step 5
Cut the loaf into quarters. Slit each wedge through the soft middle to make a pocket, keeping the crust whole.
- Step 6
Spread 1 tsp mustard inside each pocket. Slide in a hot dog, then the peppers and onions, then a handful of potato rounds. Serve right away, wrapped in deli paper.
New Jersey Italian Hot Dog
Serves 4 (1 "single" each; or 2 doubles) · 4 singles from 1 round loaf · 40 min total
Fry
- Vegetable or soybean oil, about 1 inch deep in a deep skillet (about 4 cups)
- 2 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch rounds
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 green or red bell pepper, sliced into strips
- 4 all-beef hot dogs
- Salt
Bread and toppings
- 1 medium round loaf of Italian pizza bread (about 1 lb), or a round Italian loaf
- 4 tsp yellow mustard
- Optional: ketchup, red pepper flakes
Method
- Heat the oil in a deep heavy skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat to 325°F to 350°F, about 8 minutes.
- Fry the potato rounds in batches, turning, until golden and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain on a rack and salt them. Lower the heat to medium.
- In the same oil, fry the onion and pepper for 4 minutes, until they soften.
- Add the hot dogs and fry with the vegetables, turning, for 5 minutes, until the dogs are blistered and steaming hot (165°F for higher-risk eaters) and the vegetables start to brown at the edges. Drain everything on the rack.
- Cut the loaf into quarters. Slit each wedge through the soft middle to make a pocket, keeping the crust whole.
- Spread 1 tsp mustard inside each pocket. Slide in a hot dog, then the peppers and onions, then a handful of potato rounds. Serve right away, wrapped in deli paper.
Adapted from Food Network, "Italian Style Hot Dogs", recipe courtesy of World's First Italian Style Hot Dog (the original Newark Jimmy Buff's site), from Cooking Channel's "The Culinary Adventures of Baron Ambrosia". The source gives no cooking times for the dogs and vegetables; the times below are ours. Mustard first inside the bread follows mrlocalhistory and NJ Monthly. Food Network. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- For a "double", cut the loaf in half instead of quarters and put 2 dogs and a whole potato's worth of rounds in each half.
- If you can't find pizza bread, a soft sub or torpedo roll is a common stand-in (Wikipedia; Williams Sonoma).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Round pizza bread pocket, quartered for a single and halved for a double. Documented (Food Network recipe; mrlocalhistory). Torpedo rolls as an equal alternative is Disputed (Williams Sonoma says they were "just as commonly" used).
- Dogs cooked in oil. Documented. Deep fryer vs a big pan of oil is Disputed: Wikipedia and Cook's Country's guide say deep-fried; mrlocalhistory says a large pan, "not a fryer".
- Potato rounds or chips, not fries. Documented (mrlocalhistory; NJ Monthly "thick potato wheels"). Fries are a variant (Wikipedia).
- Ketchup. Disputed: Wikipedia says locals frown on it; NJ Monthly describes a "generous ketchup drizzle", and mrlocalhistory says ketchup use now runs about three times mustard.
- Oil: soybean at Jimmy Buff's, peanut at Dickie Dee's. Documented (Wikipedia).
- Best Provisions dogs since day one. Disputed: mrlocalhistory says Best was founded in 1938, after 1932.
Every other hot dog style
Frankfurter Würstel with Mustard and a Roll
Two slim smoked sausages, warmed in hot water that never boils and served in a pair with sharp or sweet mustard, horseradish and a crusty roll on the side.
Chicago-Style Hot Dog
An all-beef frank in a steamed poppy seed bun, "dragged through the garden" with seven toppings, and never ketchup.
New York Street Cart Hot Dog
An all-beef frank held in a hot "dirty water" bath, in a steamed bun with sweet red onion sauce, sauerkraut and mustard.
Detroit Coney Island Hot Dog
A natural-casing dog in a soft bun under a fine, beanless meat sauce, a stripe of yellow mustard and a pile of chopped onion.
Sonoran Hot Dog
A bacon-wrapped dog in a soft bolillo split along the top, loaded with pinto beans, tomato, onion, jalapeño salsa, mustard and a zigzag of mayo.
DC Half-Smoke
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Seattle Cream Cheese Dog
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American Corn Dog
A hot dog on a stick, twirled in a cornmeal and buttermilk batter and fried golden, with a squiggle of yellow mustard.
Chilean Completo Italiano
A long hot dog in a big soft bun, buried under diced tomato, salted mashed avocado and a heavy line of mayonnaise, in the red, green and white of the Italian flag.
Danish Ristet Pølse
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Korean Corn Dog (Gamja Hotdog)
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Coney Island Griddled Dog, Inspired by Nathan's Famous
An all-beef natural-casing frank cooked whole on a flat-top, gently first and hot at the end, for a blistered, snappy skin.
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Air-fried franks, a quick skillet chili and melted cheddar, on the table in about 25 minutes.
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