It’s just like a NYC dirty water dog, right? Wrong. The classic Danish pølse has the perfect snap and fun toppings like apple ketchup and crispy fried onions.
By Chef Martin Høedholt
Danish hot dogs are not just a street food, but are a part of our culture. You find pølsevogne (hot dog carts) on nearly every street corner in Copenhagen, and even the most basic are more gourmet than a New York City hot dog cart. The classic pølsevogn serves hot dogs the traditional Danish way, with apple ketchup, mustard, remoulade, chopped onions, fried onions, and crisp, sweet pickles. Our passion for Danish hot dogs can be seen as similar to New Yorker’s and their pizza, with Danes taking pride in their hot dogs and making reference to their favorite pølsevogn. 
Essential to the Danish hot dog is the pølse, which is an all pork, extra long beech wood smoked sausage with a natural casing and sweet and savory spices such as cardamom and nutmeg. As pølser were not available in the US, my Revolving Dansk team and I started producing them in Brooklyn to expose NYC to the Danish way of eating hot dogs. We produce the two main types of pølser found in Denmark, the classic Røde Pølse (red sausage), which is bright red in color, and the popular brown Grillpølse (grilled sausage).
Denmark has recently upgraded their hot dogs with gourmet carts serving a variety of artisanal toppings popping up around Copenhagen such as DØP and Andersen’s Bakery. Danes debate between classic toppings and gourmet creations, as exemplified by the hotly contested Best Hot Dog Award at the yearly Food Festival in Aarhus, Denmark. This contest has only two categories, traditional and gourmet, with some of Denmark’s top chefs competing.
Find the classic remoulade recipe here.
Find the traditional sweet pickle recipe here.
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How to Make the Classic Danish Hot Dog
Description
It’s just like a NYC dirty water dog, right? Wrong. The classic Danish pølse has the perfect snap and fun toppings like apple ketchup and crispy fried onions.
Ingredients
- 1 5-pack of Copenhagen Street Dog røde pølser or grillpølser
- 5 hot dog buns
- 5 tsp of ketchup mixed with 1 tsp of apple sauce
- 5 tsp of spicy mustard
- 5 tsp remoulade (find recipe link above)
- 1 small chopped yellow onion
- 5 tsp of Fried Onions
- 15–20 Sweet Pickles (find recipe link above)
Instructions
- Cook Pølser: For røde pølser, add water to a large saucepan, and heat the pan until the water is bubbling. Add the røde pølser and let them boil for approximately 5 minutes. For grillpølser, heat oil or butter on a pan or grill and fry the pølser for approximately 5 minutes until dark brown and crisp on two sides.
- Toast hot dog buns
- Top pølser with a thin layer of ketchup, mustard, and remoulade. Scatter the chopped onions on top of the creation, followed by a generous helping of the fried onions. Finally, delicately top the hot dog with thin slices of sweet pickles.
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Danish
you’re not supposed to boil them! just heat up water above 90 C and let them soak.
Because it’s the star of the show, not the bun. :)
Has anybody been able to find them in the states yet? I know we have a weird policy when it comes to importing meat.
I don’t think these are available anymore, but I have found a halfway decent substitute stateside. The foot-long franks from Olympia Provisions are pretty close to the real deal – they have that snap and the right flavor profile. It’s the closest thing I’ve been able to find! If you cook them in water like this article suggests, it gets the job done. They’re local to Portland, or they ship within the US.
https://www.olympiaprovisions.com/products/frankfurter
why is the wiener so far out of the buns
Where can I purchase the polser hot dogs? Please add an address and a phone number . Thanks
Can I buy you hotdogs in Omaha NE
To add some extra taste to the sausages, I always add an onion, a bullion cube and some vinegar. Let it boil, then slow boil the sausages.
I tried these on a trip to Denmark a few years back. They leave NY hot dogs in the dust.
Hi are you willing to ship and supply Danish hotdogs to the Philippines?
yeah how about wisconson these hotdogs are amazing