The Kobayashi Maki (& Uramaki)
Sometimes meals just present themselves. Last night, I went to Whole Foods to pick up a few things on my way home. On my way into the store I noticed some Whole Foods employees behind a grill on the sidewalk selling hot dogs as a fundraiser for some nonprofit . . . they've been doing this for a couple of weeks. Into the store I went. I was planning on making some sushi rolls for dinner . . . honing my rolling skills for a dinner party this weekend . . . but I didn't know what I was going to put in the rolls. While strolling around, I heard over the sound system an announcement that the sidewalk sellers had run out of buns but had about 50 already-cooked hot dogs sitting on the grill. Consequently, they were having a two-bunless-hot-dogs-for-$1 sale. Instantly I thought of hot dog eating pro Takeru Kobayashi. Have any of you ever seen this Japanese dude eat hot dogs? He's a hot dog eating machine. He's won Nathan's International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island 7 out of the last 8 years. At that moment I decided to honor Kobayashi with some maki (seaweed on the outside) and uramaki (rice on the outside) rolls. I worried that my inspiration might be stymied by a sell-out of the hot dogs, so I rushed to the checkout line and, before I knew it, I was strolling down the alley to my apartment with two hot off the grill tinfoil-wrapped bunless hot dogs in hand. I have an awesome rice cooker with a timer, so I knew I'd have freshly-cooked sushi rice waiting for me at home. Strangely, when thinking of condiments, the first one that popped into my head was ketchup . . . most people would probably have thought of mustard, but I've always liked ketchup on hot dogs. I didn't want my sushi to be totally trailer park (like there's any way for a hot dog sushi roll not to be trashy), so I substituted some spicy roasted red pepper purée that was in my fridge for the ketchup that initially sprang to mind.
There you have it . . . last night's dinner. I know, I know . . . many of you probably think this is totally nasty. My coworkers, who really like hot dogs, cringed at my description of this delicacy moments ago. But whatever . . . it was pretty good . . . and Kobayashi the Great would probably appreciate the tribute. Just looking at the photo makes be chuckle. I must be in the running for the Most Trailer Trash Sushi Of All Time award. I only wish I'd stuck with the ketchup. Switching up to red pepper purée might cost me the prize.
I think it's totally gross. But, I squealed with delight at the level of white trashiness you've achieved. Kudos.
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Mission accomplished!
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That is nasty.
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Dude, that sounds yummy. It's no worse than spam musubi. I love it!
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It doesn't sound too bad, I think. If you actually wanted to turn it into a serious dish, you could wrap it in something other than nori. Also, instead of rice vinegar and white for the sushi rice, you could use some other kind of vinegar and brown sugar.
How is your FoodSaver saga going?
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I'm still waiting for a replacement for the defective GameSaver Turbo Plus they sent me last month. The new one is on its way. Stay tuned.
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Hilarious! Trailpark trash sushi, love it! I bet it tastes good too, which is the sad thing! ha! ha!
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The only thing gross about it is the nori. But what can I say? I'm a sucker for hot dogs!
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it doesn't sound any grosser than pigs in a blanket, which aren't gross at all. just trashy. but who doesn't love a good sleezeball meal every once in a while?
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The name of this recipe makes me laugh my head off! Too funny! Great job! Thanks for sharing!
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that's great! i'd have used the ketchup...
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I think it sounds good! Way to go for creativity and for a waste-not, want-not approach.
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Actually, to be totally trashy, you should have substituted cold mac n' cheese or rice-a-roni for the rice, and rolled in crushed potato chips instead of tempura crunchies! And even sub fish sticks for the hot dogs...oh the possibilities...!
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I am from Hawaii and people here would love these!!
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This is HILARIOUS! you should call it trailor park sushi!!Haha I love it.
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i'm teaching english in taiwan and the traditional sushi you can find on the street is full of hot dogs and corn and tuna fish with mayonnaise and equally disgusting things. yours actually doesn't even look that bad by comparison
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Dude, this is *so* warped!
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kimbop IS THE PROPER NAME
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you should really check out h-mart in falls church or wheaton and try the spam and hotdog kimbap. add mushroom, spinach, egg, pickled radish and you have a tasty meal -- just don't be disrespectful and call it trailer trash!
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