Cantonese Hot Dog with Mayo

This is how I know I'm Canto through and through. I, Cheng Ting-Yan, like mayo on my hot dog. And you'll be a fan too, if you've tried the Cantonese hot dogs at Wing Lok Yuen Restaurant (永樂園) on Chiu Long Street (昭隆街) , Central. They are the self-acclaimed King of Double Sausage Hot Dogs (雙腸熱狗王). The need for double dogs because Canto weiners are teeny weeny. The 30-year-old restaurant uses the cheapest sausages that money can buy - the pinkish pork sausages that Hong Kongers love to cook at barbecues. The sausages are cooked with very little oil in the rolling pan, which doesn't burn the skin of the sausage and it keeps it heated, so it's still nice and warm when it's put inside the bun. The buns are also kept warm in an oven and are only taken out when a hot dog is ordered. The bun is different from American ones, because the crust of the bread is crisp.

Instead of adding relish, ketchup and mustard, Wing Lok Yuen has its own secret formula of a honey mustard mixed with mayo topping that makes it the best part of this Cantonese-style hot dog. The topping is sweet and sour, and leaves a nice aftertaste in your mouth. It's a light lunch, perfect for this Indian summer. I've been feeling nauseous a lot this summer from being too full, so this lunch, which I gladly ate while strolling through Central with my brother was perfect. I don't think I could've survived on a hot dog for lunch in Syracuse, but my stomach's shrunk into the size of a walnut since coming back to Hong Kong. We Cantos have always known the delicate enjoyment of small portions anyway!

The lady pouring on a dollop of the famous honey mustard mayo! Yummers, teehee!
Bon voyage, and cheers to small portions!
Jenny Cheng