Extra Crunchy Korean Corn Dog (Ramen, French Fries and Takis Edition)

Deep-fried Korean corn dogs are a messy and time-consuming affair, but they are so, so worth it. They are quite popular on social media lately and believe me, the hype isn't exaggerated, they are absolutely delicious, not to mention unique-looking.

Compared to American corn dogs, they are much crisper. Rather than corn meal, the batter is made with white flour and yeast and coated with panko breadcrumbs for extra crispiness. Each corn dog is unique, but the most popular one is a half sausage/half cheese, coated in panko breadcrumbs and finished off with ketchup.

They are completely customizable and can be adapted to various diets, preferences and allergies:

1. you can use any sausage you want
2. you can use any cheese you want
3. you can use any coating you want

The one thing that's an absolute must-have for this Instructable is a temperature controlled, electric deep fryer with a rectangular basket.

Timeline: prep work can be done ahead and everything can be kept in the fridge overnight before frying: the dough, cooked potato cubes, crushed ramen, skewered sausages with cheese etc.

Non- edibles:

1. deep fat fryer and sunflower oil
2. bamboo/ wood skewers or disposable chopsticks
3. cling film, wooden or temperature resistant cooking tools like chopsticks and tongs
4. cooling rack, old newspapers, disposable paper plates and aluminium trays

Foods:

1. pre-cooked sausage: pork, beef, chicken, vegetarian, tofu etc
2. regular, melty mozzarella cheese or variations: lactose-free, vegan or no cheese at all
3. for the dough: white flour, instant yeast, some sugar and salt, water
4. panko breadcrumbs - MUST HAVE, at least 1 cup

1. for the coatings, choose your favourite:
2. potatoes for French fries + 2 tablespoons corn starch
3. instant ramen packets (the type that's soaked in hot water, but doesn't have to be boiled for 5 minutes)
4. puffed millet or puffed rice
5. crushed cornflakes
6. spicy Takis/Cheetos + few tablespoons of mayo

1. condiments- ketchup, mayo, mustard, sriracha

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How much food do I need?

There is no exact recipe for this dish, because everything is so customisable and consumer-friendly. You will have to figure out how much to buy/prepare depending on how many people are involved. Here are some rough numbers that can help you prepare:

-adults can put away 3-5 hotdogs in one sitting (if served as a main meal and without side dishes)

-1 instant ramen packet was enough to cover 4 corn dogs

-1 large potato (cubed) was enough for 4-5 corn dogs

My deep fryer is medium sized- only 2.5l, but that size is the absolute minimum requirement.

Shape and size is important for this recipe, because you need a rectangular basket that's big enough to fit the sausages. Don't use those tiny, 1L deep fryers, because they won't work here.

Prepare the sausages/frankfurters:

1. sometimes they have plastic casings, so they need to be peeled
2. wash them if needed and pat dry
3. trim if they are too long for the fryer basket.
4. skewer them alone or with cheese
5. keep in the fridge, only take out prior to frying

Cheese has to be room temperature for cutting, skewering and wrapping.

Mozzarella or any other cheese that melts when heated (like vegan cheeses for lactose-free people) needs to be in a form of a block or in slices. You can stack several cheese slices on top of each other and cut into cubes, stack into logs and thread through the skewers, or you can cut sausage-thick pieces out of a cheese block.

For less cheese, you can instead wrap a room-temperature slice (it will be more mailable) around the sausage and wrap a piece of cling film around that. Leave in the freezer for 1 hour to firm up before transferring to the fridge.

If using cheese, you have to keep the skewered sausages in the fridge at all times until frying. Warm cheese has a tendency to melt too fast while deep frying and ooze out.

Use different skewers or mark them with symbols/colours if you need to differentiate between the corn dogs (allergies, preferences etc).

Dough recipe for 10-14 hot dogs:

1. 1 tablespoon dry yeast
2. 1 tablespoon sugar
3. 1 1⁄2 cups room temperature water
4. 2 3⁄4 cups regular flour
5. 1 teaspoon fine salt

1) I like to start by activating the yeast (it's just in case yeast is old or inactive). Mix the yeast with sugar in a separate container, add just a pinch of flour and 1⁄2 cup warm (but not hot) water. Leave in a warm place and wait 15 min for it to foam and raise up. This is alive yeast. If nothing happens, you need to buy new yeast and try again.

2) Sift the flour with salt, add the yeast mixture and the remaining 1 cup of warm water. Mix well with a whisk, fork or a handheld mixer. You want the dough to be smooth and lump free.

3) Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm spot until it's double in size and foamy (40-60 min).

Kitchen prep:

Deep frying always creates a massive mess, especially if you are cooking for a crowd. I like to prepare everything ahead of time to minimise the clean-up process:

1. I start by using leftover gift paper rolls or newspapers to line the countertops in the kitchen
2. I put the fryer directly underneath the extraction fan to keep the smell to the minimum
3. I like to protect the walls/paint by placing a large piece of cardboard behind the fryer (in this case it's the mushroom-themed background wall in the pictures)
4. I also like to use disposable, bamboo cutlery and paper/aluminium containers. It will save you a lot of time later on, and you won't have to scrub the dried-up dough afterwards

Food prep:

For crunchy ramen: bash 1-2 ramen packets with a rolling pin, open up and remove the flavour packets

For French fries:

1. Peel 1-2 large potatoes and cut them into small cubes (5-8mm or 1⁄4 -1⁄2 inch)
2. Drop them into a pot of salted, boiling water and cook for 2-4 minutes. Cook larger pieces longer, smaller cubes only 2 min, so they don't turn into mush.
3. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process.
4. Spread all the potato cubes over a tea towel or disposable kitchen towels to dry off as much as possible.
5. Place the potato cubes into a large bowl (or a large zip lock bag) and drop in 1-2 tbsp. of corn starch. Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and shake it up to coat all the potato pieces with starch.

Transfer crushed ramen, panko breadcrumbs and potato cubes to separate, disposable aluminium trays.

Prepare your work station:

1. heat up the oil to 350F (180C)
2. prepare heat resistant tools like tongs and cooling racks
3. line up your trays with panko, potatoes, ramen etc
4. take the sausages and the dough out of the fridge

Whatever coating variations you end up using, the logistics are the same:

1. grab a skewer and dip the tip into the dough, either use a twisty motion to roll the dough onto the sausage, or use a tool, like a chopstick to wrap the dough around the meat
2. keep in mind that this yeasty dough WILL EXPAND, so don't make the layer too thick
3. dip the skewer in a tray with crushed ramen (cubed potatoes/crushed cornflakes/puffed rice/puffed millet) and press down, rotate and press some more- you want all sides to be covered, you can use your hand to press the crushed ramen more firmly into the dough
4. hoover the corn dog over the panko tray and use a spoon to sprinkle the breadcrumbs onto your ramen skewer, make sure to sprinkle over the entire corn dog- this method ensures that the whole surface of the corn dog ends up with a crispy exterior
5. gently drop into the fryer; fry 1-2 at the time, don't overcrowd

Fry at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius for about 5 minutes until golden brown.

Take it out of the oil and rest on a cooling rack for a few minutes.

For Takis/Cheetos dust variation, use a plain, just panko-covered corn dog:

-pulverise the chips in a food processor until fine powder (one small bag is enough for 2 corn dogs)

-spread a few teaspoons of mayo all over the dog - use silicone pastry brush

-press the corn dog into the chip dust, coat thoroughly and serve immediately

There is literally only one person I know who likes this one, so I'm going to mention it here as a side note.

This is a squid corndog with a real squid ink- flavoured dough. Basically, you make the dough as explained above, but mix it with a sachet or two of squid ink. Cut the bottom 1 inch of the sausage in a cris-cross pattern, this bit will curl up while frying and look a bit like tentacles. Then proceed as normal and only coat it with plain panko breadcrumbs before frying.

The addition of the squid ink makes the corn dog taste more salty and fishy. It's usually paired with a half cheese/half sausage skewer. It has a strong umami flavour, that's not for everyone, but it sure looks great ;).