Weird Food? Yep! The Costa Rican Salchipapa

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Costa Rican salchipapa- hot dogs and french fries served with salsa rosada.  A popular and weird Costa Rican street food!

About This Costa Rican Salchipapa Recipe

“Salchipapa.” Yep, you read that correctly! Part salchicha (sausage) and part papa (potato) this french fry and hot dog medley is a favorite fast food all over Central and most South American countries. This deliciously greasy creation started out as a street food in Peru but has since expanded outward. 

Salchipapa is now a classic kid’s menu staple in Costa Rican restaurants (and most of South America)  and is often served at bars as well. It usually comes drizzled with ketchup or mayonnaise, or salsa rosada for dipping. 

A truly multipurpose meal, salchipapa is at once kiddie cuisine, late-night fare, and quite possibly, a hangover cure! (That last one is still pending testing!)

More Costa Rican Street Food Recipes:

• Costa Rican Vigorón Recipe
• Costa Rican Empanada Recipes
• Costa Rican Taco Tico Recipe

Salchipapa Costa Rica Recipe

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb pre-cooked hot dogs
• 1 lb frozen french fries
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• Condiments (ketchup, mayonnaise or salsa rosada)

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet or frying pan until you have very hot oil.

While the oil is heating, slice up the hotdogs into 1/2-inch segments. Once the vegetable oil is hot, place the desired amount of french fries and hot dogs into the oil and fry until golden.

You may have to fry everything in batches if you are making a lot- I usually do. 

Remove everything from the heat and drain excess oil on paper towels. I usually add salt to the top.

Once the hot dog slices have crisped up a little around the edges, remove them from the heat and scatter them on top of a bed of fries. Drizzle the fries and hot dogs with ketchup and mayonnaise and serve. 

Substitutions

You can substitute any type of frying oil you choose (peanut, canola, etc).  

Note- if your French fries are frozen and have a lot of excess ice crystals on them, you’ll need to dry the potatoes so that you don’t end up with hot oil spattering. 

Variations

You can use Not too many variations on this one. I will say that I had this recipe in Finland with reindeer sausage. Now that was a new twist!

You can fry the potatoes and the hot dogs separately. Also- some places put ketchup, mustard, and mayonaise on the dish. 

Serving Suggestions

Scatter your hot dog pieces over the warm fries and drizzle them with ketchup and mayonnaise. Enjoy- preferably with a favorite Costa Rican drink.

FAQ

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