The Crunchy Hot Dog Topping To Double Down On Pork Flavor

What comes to mind when you think about a hot dog? Maybe it's a classic ketchup-and-mustard-smothered hot dog commonly served at baseball stadiums and backyard cookouts. Perhaps it's a Chicago-style hot dog, a frankfurter in a poppy seed bun piled with onions, sport peppers, tomatoes, celery salt, and a pickle spear. Or perhaps you conjure up images of the Coney Island hot dog topped with meat, chili, and white onions. Whatever regional hot dog you favor, the truth is that the only difference in America's love for the hot dog is what's put on it.

Toppings, of course, differ from place to place and from person to person. Each topping, whether a condiment, vegetable, or other food entirely, adds another layer of flavor and texture to what is otherwise just a sausage on white bread. It could be something savory like spicy mustard, meaty chili, or something subtly sweet like banana peppers and caramelized onions. Toppings could change the texture of the hot dog, too, turning something that's usually very soft and squishy into something chunky, tender, sticky, or even a little bit crunchy.

Two toppings that excel in giving a bit of extra crunch to a hot dog might initially sound rather unconventional. These include the popular snack food known as pork rinds and the fruit known as the papaya.

If you've never heard of chicharrones but have heard of pork rinds before, you'll be relieved to know that you're essentially thinking about the same thing. Chicharrones are a snack made up of pork skin or pork belly until golden and crunchy. It's not uncommon for chicharrones to be prepared with other types of meat, but they are usually considered similar to the American version of pork rinds.

Whatever you call them, they offer your average hot dog a unique taste. Danny Palumbo of The Takeout reported his amazement at seeing chicharrones on hot dogs, describing the taste as salty and crunchy. Pork rinds are also described as having a flavor somewhere between fried chicken skin and fatty pork, which would complement the meaty taste of a hot dog, be it all beef or a mix of beef, chicken, or pork.

How you serve pork rinds on your hot dog is up to you. You could crush them onto your hot dog, mix them with your favorite chili, or serve them right alongside it like you would potato chips.

But if pork rinds add a salty pork flavor to your hot dog, what exactly does a papaya offer?

At first glance, it seems strange to associate any sweet fruit with something you smother in chili, cheese, and mustard. Although papayas and hot dogs are fundamentally different, they make a unique yet delicious combination when paired.

Perhaps one of the most notable examples of papaya and hot dogs making for strange bedfellows can be found in New York — more accurately, Gray's Papaya in the Upper West Side. The restaurant is famed for its delicious and modestly priced hot dogs and papaya juice, which is supposedly a popular beverage that's ordered alongside the chain's hot dogs. Another famous restaurant in New York City is the aptly-named Papaya King, a restaurant that has received praise from not just hundreds of New Yorkers but also from famed chefs and critics like Anthony Bourdain and Martha Stewart.

What makes papayas and hot dogs so popular then? Papayas have a very tangy flavor with a balance of sweetness that pairs well with a hot dog. Biting into a juicy hot dog full of savory meat juices and washing it down with a glug of cold papaya juice is a very refreshing combination, similar to how barbeque and lemonade pair well together at cookouts.

Whether you're enjoying the crunch of pork rinds or the tang of a papaya on your hot dog, you can't deny that there are many ways to customize this all-American classic.