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.
German immigrants sold sausages in milk rolls from pushcarts on the Bowery in the 1860s, and Charles Feltman opened what NHDSC calls the first Coney Island hot dog stand in 1871. In 1916 Nathan Handwerker, a former Feltman's employee, opened a stand at Surf and Stillwell Avenues selling hot dogs for 5 cents against Feltman's 10, using his wife Ida's recipe. The cart's red onion sauce was created by food chemist Alan Geisler for Gregory Papalexis, owner of Sabrett's parent Marathon Enterprises, and is sold as "Sabrett's Prepared Onions".
🇺🇸 This one is American
An all-beef frank held in a hot "dirty water" bath, in a steamed bun with sweet red onion sauce, sauerkraut and 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
A hot bath, not a boil
Holding the franks below a simmer heats them through without splitting the casing, the same way a cart keeps them ready for hours.
Tomato paste plus vinegar
Cooking the onions down with paste, honey and a splash of vinegar gives the sweet, tangy, brick-red sauce that clings to the frank.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until soft and starting to turn golden.
- Step 2
Stir in the garlic, paprika, chili powder, cinnamon, salt and pepper and cook 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and honey and cook 2 minutes, stirring.
- Step 3
Add the water and sambal and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, until almost dry. Stir in both vinegars and cook 5 minutes more, until thick and jammy. Keep warm.
- Step 4
Meanwhile combine the bath ingredients in a large pot and heat to 170°F to 180°F, just steaming with no bubbles, about 10 minutes.
- Step 5
Add the franks and hold them in the bath 10 to 15 minutes, until steaming hot (165°F for higher-risk eaters).
- Step 6
Set a steamer basket or colander over the pot for the last 3 minutes and steam the buns until soft. Warm the sauerkraut in a small pan over low heat, 3 minutes.
- Step 7
Put each frank in a bun and add mustard, a spoonful of onion sauce and some sauerkraut. Serve right away.
New York Street Cart Hot Dog
Serves 4 (2 hot dogs each) · 8 hot dogs, about 1 1/2 cups onion sauce · 50 min total
Onion sauce
- 2 tbsp olive or neutral oil
- 2 medium yellow or white onions (about 1 1/2 lb), sliced into 1/4-inch rings
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp honey
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tsp sambal oelek (or a pinch of red pepper flakes)
- 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
"Dirty water" bath
- 12 cups water
- 2 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp white wine or champagne vinegar
- 1 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder and sweet paprika
Dogs and toppings
- 8 all-beef franks (natural casing for snap, such as Sabrett or Nathan's)
- 8 soft hot dog buns
- 8 tsp yellow mustard (or spicy brown; see Rules)
- 1 cup sauerkraut, drained
Method
- Heat the oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until soft and starting to turn golden.
- Stir in the garlic, paprika, chili powder, cinnamon, salt and pepper and cook 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and honey and cook 2 minutes, stirring.
- Add the water and sambal and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, until almost dry. Stir in both vinegars and cook 5 minutes more, until thick and jammy. Keep warm.
- Meanwhile combine the bath ingredients in a large pot and heat to 170°F to 180°F, just steaming with no bubbles, about 10 minutes.
- Add the franks and hold them in the bath 10 to 15 minutes, until steaming hot (165°F for higher-risk eaters).
- Set a steamer basket or colander over the pot for the last 3 minutes and steam the buns until soft. Warm the sauerkraut in a small pan over low heat, 3 minutes.
- Put each frank in a bun and add mustard, a spoonful of onion sauce and some sauerkraut. Serve right away.
Adapted from Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen, "New York Street-Cart Hot Dog" (serves 4, onion sauce kept at full batch for 8 dogs). The published Sabrett components (onions, tomato paste, olive oil) come from NBC New York and Wikipedia. The Sabrett formula itself is secret. Williams Sonoma. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- The onion sauce keeps about 5 days in the fridge and tastes better the next day.
- Ketchup will get you "shunned" in New York, per Serious Eats.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Onions in sauce plus sauerkraut plus mustard. Documented (Serious Eats; NHDSC).
- Mustard type. Disputed: NHDSC says a pale, deli-style yellow mustard; many guides say spicy brown, but no source we opened documents brown as the cart standard. The recipe offers both.
- Natural casing. Disputed: Sabrett calls its natural casing frank "the original New York pushcart style", but Serious Eats says most carts switched to skinless long ago.
- "Dirty water" seasonings. Folklore: Saveur says vendors guard their recipes; the bath above is a test kitchen version, not a cart's.
- Sabrett founding. Disputed: Sabrett's site says 1926; Wikipedia says the Star Baking Co. dates from 1928.
- Feltman date. Disputed: 1867 (pie wagon) vs 1871 (stand).
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.
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.
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.
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.
25-Minute Air-Fryer Chili Cheese Dogs
Air-fried franks, a quick skillet chili and melted cheddar, on the table in about 25 minutes.
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