Vegan Korean Corn Dogs from Carrots
Salty and smoky, we’ve made a vegan carrot dog coated in a simple batter, and crispy corn flakes, deep fried, and sprinkled with sugar. What do we have? The perfect vegan Korean corn dogs. Crispy, salty, savory, smoky, and sweet, each bite is a little explosion of flavor and texture in your mouth. This veganized version of a popular street food is sure to be a favorite! And while I would never claim this to be healthy, I would be willing to say it’s a bit healthier than the original.
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What are Korean Corn Dogs?
Korean corn dogs are very much like what you might think of as classic corndogs, but with a little bit of a twist. They are hot dogs (in this case carrot dogs), coated in a batter, deep fried, and topped with sugar for a delicious and unexpected sweet and salty combination. Unlike American corn dogs, Korean corn dogs don’t generally contain and cornmeal in the batter. They are a popular street food in Korea, and there are tons of variations to the classic. Sometimes mozzarella cheese is used in place of the hot dog, or fish cakes. The outside is sometimes coated in panko bread crumbs, but also sometimes cornflakes, cut up French fries, or deep fried ramen noodles. They are usually topped with ketchup, mustard, and/or mayonnaise. But what really pulls it all together is they are fried, salty and savory, and coated in a dusting of sugar. Yum! While I am no expert in Korean street food or culture, with all the creativity and flair given to their corn dogs, I felt that our carrot-based, vegan option would be appropriate.
Looking for Fried Foods (Don’t Worry, we are too)? Try one of these Fried Vegan Recipes!
- Homemade Bitter Melon Chips
- Maple Cream Filled Fried Vegan Doughnuts
- Baked Eggplant Parm Vegan Sandwich
- Vegan Baja Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa
How to Make Vegan Carrot Korean Corn Dogs
You could start with pre-made vegan hot dogs if you like, but we decided to make our Korean corn dogs from carrot dogs. Carrot dogs became popular a few years ago, when someone realized that if you simply marinated carrot in some salty and savory ingredients, and then cooked it up and topped it with all your usual hot dog toppings you can get a fairly good “hot dog” using a much healthier ingredient. And for some reason this year we’ve basically been swimming in carrots, so it seemed like the right plan for us. So first things first, let’s make our carrot dogs. Peel the carrots and use a knife to shape them into something relatively hot dog shaped. In order to make this work, you have to have fairly thick thought carrots to begin with. Once your carrots are peeled and shaped, combine all the ingredients for the marinade. In order to infuse the flavor from the marinade more quickly, we are going to cook the carrots in the marinade as well as letting them sit in it. Place the carrots and the marinade into a skillet or saucepan, bring it to a boil and keep it covered. Make sure you keep your eye on them, because they can get over-cooked fairly quickly. You should be able to piece them with a fork with little resistance, but you want to stop cooking them before they get mushy. Once they’re totally cooked, take them off the heat and let them cool. At that point transfer the carrots and the marinade into a freezer bag, and move to your fridge. Let them sit for at least a couple of hours, although preferably overnight.
Once your carrots have been properly marinated, remove them from the bag and gently blot off any excess liquid so they’re dry. Holding the carrots in your left hand (assuming you are right handed), gently but firmly work the skewer through the length of the carrot, stopping short of reaching the other side. Repeat with all eight carrots. Mix up your batter, and then transfer it into a pint glass as it’s much easier to get the carrots completely covered in batter from a glass than it is in a bowl. You’ll also want to prepare a bowl or a plate with your corn flakes. I gently crushed my corn flakes slightly before using them, so there were a lot of little bits but also quite a few large pieces as well. Now it’s time to make sure your oil gets nice and hot before you start battering. Once your oil is hot you can dip your skewered carrot dog into the batter remove it and stick it right into the corn flakes. It helps to use your hands to pat the corn flakes onto the batter a little bit, to make sure that the entirety of the carrot is coated in batter and corn flake. And now it’s time for frying! These carrot dogs shouldn’t take very long to cook, you just want to make sure they get nice and golden on the outside. I usually treat the first one or two as a tester as it can sometimes take a little while to get the oil temperatures and the fry time correct. Once the carrot dogs are all fried, give them a generous sprinkle of sugar. Choose your condiments from there. I did ketchup and vegan mayo on the ones I photographed, but we also did a few classic ketchup and mustard ones which were quite delicious. Enjoy!
Vegan Korean Corn Dogs from Carrots
Ingredients
- 8 large carrots
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 8 wooden skewers
- Around 2 cups cornflakes
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp. ketchup
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. liquid smoke
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp. granulated sugar (plus more, for sprinkling)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup soymilk (or other non-dairy milk)
- ¼ tsp. salt
Instructions
- Start by making the carrot dogs. Peel your carrots, and cut them into fairly uniform, hot dog sized pieces. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade along with 1 cup of water, place the carrots and the marinade in a skillet, and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid, and cook until the carrots are just cooked- about 10-15 minutes. Test by piercing with a fork. Once cooked, remove from the heat and let cool. Once cooled, transfer the liquid and the carrots into a large freezer bag or a container, and let sit for at least three hours or preferably overnight.
- Remove the carrot dogs from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Pierce each down the length with a skewer, stopping a bit before you’ve reached the end of the carrot. Combine all the ingredients for the batter and whisk well. Transfer the batter into a pint glass so you can easily dip your carrots in. Place your cornflakes, slightly crushed, on a plate or shallow bowl. Prepare a baking sheet by placing a wire cooling rack on top.
- Heat a pot of oil to around 350°F (175°C). Once your oil is hot, dip one of your skewered carrot dogs in the prepared batter, letting any excess batter drip off. Transfer to the cornflakes, turning and using your hands to make sure all the batter is coated. Place in the hot oil, flipping occasionally, until golden brown (about 3-4 minutes). Remove from the oil and place on the cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining carrot dogs.
- Sprinkle the cooked carrot dogs with sugar, and top with some combination of ketchup, mustard, and vegan mayo.
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