How to make American street food at home – words Alexa Wang
Nowadays, eating on the go is a common thing and even a way of life for many people, especially those living in large cities. Mostly, it’s due to high-speed living when everybody is always in a hurry and has a whole bunch of chores to do every day often having no spare time for cooking and a full-scale dinner.
This is where street food comes in. Originated as ready-to-eat snacks typically sold at markets and fairs, today, street food can be found literally at every corner offering affordable, nutritious, and delicious solutions for lunch or quick meal on the run.
American Street Food Traditions
Classic American street food is a multilayer burger with a juicy minced steak and an appetizing hot dog with a grilled sausage. Yet, in our days, street food is much more than hot dogs and hamburgers. In every city or state, you’ll find both dishes that have become the staples of American street food and some meals with a region-specific distinct culinary flair. Besides, the majority of all-loved and extremely popular street foods came from abroad and were modified to match American culinary traditions.These are Mexican-style tacos and burritos with mouth-melting chicken, beef, or pork from an open grill or a rotisserie oven, Middle-Eastern falafels stuffed with chickpeas or tahini, fresh veggies and an unmatched selection of spices, Greek gyros garnished with an unforgettable tzatziki sauce, or crunchy Belgian waffles served with whipped cream, chocolate, and a variety of fruit.
Cooking Street Food at Home
Passing by food carts and trucks on the streets and smelling those mouth-watering scents of sizzling meat and sweet desserts, we often catch ourselves thinking that it would be nice to cook those tempting street treats at home. For all true street food lovers, we share several simple yet tasty recipes for the most popular street foods you can cook in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Time-proven Classics: Hot Dog
Being the most famous and favorite American street food, a hot dog is pretty quick and easy to cook. The basic ingredients you will need are a special long bung commonly called a hot-dog bun and sausages. It could be pork, beef, veal, or chicken Franks of your choice. A classic hot dog is a boiled or grilled sausage that comes nested in a slightly roasted split bun with some mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle slices, and onion rings. However, you can always customize the classic recipe to your individual taste and give it a kind of homemade touch by varying relishes. Thus, you can go for your favorite sauce, be it pizza-style tomato sauce, some spicy steak sauce, barbecue sauce, or even guacamole, and add a selection of fresh vegetables finely sliced or shredded as well as chilli, cheese, or bacon. A glass of coke or some lemonade with the ice from the ice maker will make a perfect match to your homemade hot dog.
The Taste of America: Hamburger
Created by a Danish immigrant over 100 years ago, hamburger is considered a staple of American street food and is still one of the most popular dishes on the menu of numerous restaurants and cafes not only in America but all over the world. If you live in a private house with a nice garden or backyard and have an outdoor grill, burgers will become your best-ever treats for BBQ parties and family get-togethers. Everyone knows that a traditional burger is a grilled patty of ground meat sandwiched in a bread roll, garnished with onions, tomato slices, and lettuce, and relished with some ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise. However, major components that make a really good hamburger are a patty and a sauce matching all other ingredients together. To make 4 perfect burger patties, you will need 1 pound of top-quality fresh ground beef or veal, ½ finely chopped onion, a teaspoon of soy sauce, a teaspoon of Worcester sauce, 1 egg, and dried spices including a teaspoon of garlic powder, basil, parsley, rosemary, and oregano. Mix all ingredients in a big bowl and season with salt and pepper to your taste. Make 4 patties and grill them 5 minutes on each side to seal all juices and tastes inside. You can serve it on white or rye buns with some caramelized onions and creamy Dor Bleu sauce or cucumber slices and fresh tomato sauce with chilly. The choice is almost endless.
A French Touch: French Fries
Some would think it is quite difficult to make French fries at home and get the same crispy crust on the top and a delicate soft texture from the inside. However, it’s much easier than it might seem. And you does not necessarily need an air fryer or a deep fryer. You can simply take a deep pot and cook your French fries on the stove. The main key to success is to cut potatoes into close-to-uniform ½-inch or ¼-inch slices to achieve that all-around appetizing crust when frying. Once cut, soak potato slices in cold water for about 20 minutes to get rid of excessive starch. Then dry with paper towels and fry in the oil at least 2 inches deep. First, fry within about 5 minutes in the oil heated up to 325 F, lift potatoes out of the oil and let it drain and cool on a rack. Further on, put potato slices back into a hot oil (about 375 F) and fry until golden. This little trick will let you cook French fries soft from the inside and crunchy from the outside. Drain your fries, season it with salt and spices to your taste and serve it hot with your favorite condiments.
Sweet Memories: Crepe
For many of us, lace-thin crepes dressed up with sweet toppings evoke pleasant memories of the childhood. Being an adult, you can now cook them at home. All you will need for ideal crepe batter is a cup of all-purpose flour, 1 ½ cups of milk, 4 large eggs, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, a tablespoon of sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth and cook on a non-stick flat skillet pouring ⅓ cup of batter and baking about 2 minutes from each side. You can serve your crepes hot with some chocolate sauce, strawberry or cherry jam, and a ball of homemade vanilla ice cream.
How to make American street food at home – words Alexa Wang
