Here's What 'Dirty Water' Hot Dogs Really Are

As someone who lives in New York, I can tell you visitors get really excited to try New York hot dogs, perhaps because of Nathan's big hot dog eating contest which recently returned to Coney Island. They're perhaps not as unique as the common types of NYC-style pizza which you can fold up while you eat, but NYC hot dogs have a reputation. For one, a traditional hot dog cart keeps their all-beef franks boiled in water rather than grilling them (although I've seen carts that grill nowadays), and that traditional boiling method can get you what's known as a "dirty water" hot dog.

It tastes much better than what the name suggests. Some folks assume that a dirty water hot dog is just a boiled hot dog that's been left to sit in a big tank of water with other hot dogs, but it's more than that. The so-called "dirty water" is seasoned with spices which add extra flavor to the meat. Recipes for this seasoned water vary, but it's often a mixture of salt, garlic, cumin, vinegar, and some sort of meat stock like beef. You can expect the hot dogs themselves to also add some flavoring to the water because they are sitting there all day. Importantly, though, no individual hot dog is sitting in there longer than an hour before it's eaten.

By the end of the day, the water may look fairly dark to passersby, but there's nothing in there which doesn't taste good. This style first arose out of necessity. Wooden food carts have been setting up shop around New York since the 1800s, but when hot dogs replaced oysters as the dominant street snack the fact that it's risky to cook hot foods in a setup made of wood became a more salient issue. Vendors discovered that boiling posed less of a threat to the cart, and from there flavoring the water became a natural innovation. Eventually, New York food carts switched over from wood to fireproof metal carts, but boiling franks in a perpetual stew of seasoned broth remained a tradition.

If this is spurring some inspiration for your next cookout or party, keep in mind that you don't want to boil the water for long; you only boil the water briefly and then you lower it down until it's simmering. It's a similar strategy as keeping ready-to-eat hot dogs warm via a slow cooker, which is likely why it remains popular with street vendors who had a small amount of space and a food cart they needed to operate all day long. It's also easy enough to place a bunch of hot dogs, seasonings, and water into an Instant Pot and cook them that way. If you do it right, your finished hot dogs won't need anything else besides a bun and a line of mustard (and some sauerkraut).