It always seems like food on a stick has so much more personality than pretty much any other kind of food. Perhaps it’s the combination of state fair nostalgia and no-fuss ease of consumption: With a corndog in one hand and the other free to gesture wildly, you can throw down your best walk-and-talk Adam Sorkin scene.
Keith Ahn sees your honey-battered classic corndog. He raises you one Korean hot dog—the ubiquitous Seoul street food called hasdogeu, which, like its cornmeal-coated brethren, comes on a stick rather than between a bun.
At Ssong’s Hot Dogs, you’ll stroll up to the touchscreen kiosk and place your order. Most of the options feature a beef frank—standard, spicy or paired with mozzarella or cheddar—dipped into a panko, rice flour and wheat flour batter. When your order number is called, you’ll retrieve your dog, fried to a sunshine gold and with a crackly exterior texture resembling a friendly puffer fish, and pick out your condiments. You’ll make it halfway to your car before you reverse course and land back at the kiosk for a second round.
GO: Ssong’s Hot Dogs, 10308 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park. ssongshotdogks.com.
