Elina Shatkin
New York congressional rep Anthony isn't the only wiener grabbing headlines these days, though he may be the greasiest. There's the New Jersey fried hot dog, something The Greasy Wiener truck (@thegreasywiener) claims as its specialty. The long thin dogs, reminiscent of the ones at LA's newly opened Papaya King, are grilled until the skin grows tight and brown, shriveling like a raisin in the sun or, less poetically, a middle-aged tanning addict. If these hot dogs don't snap like a wiener from Let's Be Frank, at least they offer a pleasant resistance.
The basic dog ($4) is a balance of sharp, yellow mustard, sweet grilled onions, diced jalapeno and a thin dill pickle spear, for crunch. It works, and, despite its name, isn't overly greasy. Hell, it's a hot dog. It's supposed to be health food?
The Greasy Wiener doesn't go crazy with ethno-culinary mashups. On top of the aforementioned basics, their dogs can be dressed in bacon, sauerkraut, chili or “truck made” cheese sauce. We're not sure whether that's an inappropriate use of quotation marks or a sly poke at the self-consciously artisanal food truck fare that's sweeping the city. Either way, we're a fan.
The cheese sauce is of the pale orange and preternaturally variety that looks suspiciously like the stuff on movie theater nachos — which, we have to admit, we kind of love — but it has a tang that suggests it's been sent to finishing school. It's perfect on top of the Greasy Wiener's curly fries, which might seem like they're generically seasoned and poured out of large freezer bags. They probably are, but when they're fried to crisp glory, bathed in cheese sauce (whatever its provenance) and befriending a wiener, it all comes together into a perfect truck stop meal: meaty, salty, starchy, crisp and saucy. And unlike a Twitter session with Anthony Wiener, you won't need to shower afterward.
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