New Jersey Rutt’s Hut Ripper and Secret Slaw Image Used Under Creative Commons License From roadfood.com
Citizens! We are now fully into our holiday groove here in TFD’s secret lair, high above the ice fields of Antarctica on the volcanic slope of Mt. Erebus! Not only are we ecumenical across all Christian denominations in our decorations, we also fully represent the Jewish side of the faith for Hanukkah! Having just posted a recipe for Amish Christmas sugar cookies, we must now equalize the scales of equanimity with a recipe for my fellow members of the Tribe.
You’d expect a latke recipe, but that is far too obvious a path for TFD to follow. My very surprising choice instead? A NJ hot dog recipe, straight from the world-famous Rutt’s Hut itself!
So what makes a NJ hot dog recipe apropos for the Festival of Lights holiday? First off, I feel it is important to recognize the recent tragedy surrounding the antisemitic murder of two Jews and two brave Christians (one of whom died trying to protect the Jews, the other was a police officer) in Jersey City. If you aren’t familiar with this tragedy, please read about it here.
Now, let us move on to a positive reason for this recipe’s emergence on the blog:
Traditionally for Hanukkah, Jews celebrate the miracle of the oil in the menorah lasting 8 days instead of 1, and so we eat fried foods on the holiday. Well, instead of giving you yet ANOTHER latke recipe, this hot dog fits the bill because it is indeed deep-fried!
Rutt’s Hut is a restaurant in Clifton, New Jersey known for its deep-fried hot dogs. In addition to the Ripper, customers can also order the dogs ‘In-And-Out’ style which is only in the hot oil briefly, and the ‘Cremator’ which is charred black.
The original roadside stand was opened in 1928 by Royal “Abe” Rutt and his wife, Anna. The family sold the restaurant to the current owners, George Petropoulakis, Louis Chrisafinis, Nicholas Karagiorgis, and George Sakellaris in late 1974.
Today the building is split into three separate sections: a restaurant, a bar, and a take-out counter.
The restaurant has been named the #1 Hot Dog in the Nation by The Daily Meal multiple times. The relish is just as famous as the hot dogs — made with a secret blend of mustard and spices (TFD NOTE: we are going to blow the lid off this secret recipe!).
Rutt’s Hut has been featured on the PBS special A Hot Dog Program, USA Today, numerous Food Network shows and the Travel Channel’s Deep-Fried Paradise. It is also listed in the book 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die.
The secret to a good ripper is – of course – ripping-hot oil to deep-fry the dogs so the skin ‘rips’ and they become crunchy and delicious. I prefer mine ‘In-and-out’ style, personally. The real secret is that delicious mustard slaw that evolves a Rutt’s Hut ripper into its ultimate form.
…and I have the secret recipe, !
I literally stumbled across it while researching this recipe – as noted in a post on flickr by kwalker138:
This recipe was given to me by a friend of mine who got a box of old recipes at a garage sale last summer. The dates of these recipes are from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. What makes this clipping interesting is the name on the recipe and the Clifton address.
Rutt’s Hut Secret Slaw Recipe!
Clifton is the home of the Rutt’s Hut Ripper, with its ‘Secret’ relish. Ann Rutt was in fact one of the founders of Rutt’s Hut!
‘Fine chopped’ is so dependent on your perception. Back in the days when this recipe was published, people medium/course ground vegetables for relish not chopped. I plan on making again employing my meat grinder attachment on my mix master.
Citizens, please enjoy your celebration of Hanukkah with this unique take on a fried meal item – and please, when you light the first candle, remember the innocent people who died not a week ago as I write this due to the insanity of antisemitism…
I would personally enjoy these fantastic dogs on Hanukkah with another fried dish – the classic (and inescapable!) latkes! 😉 As to the choice of hot dog – only Feltman’s of Coney Island brand will do!
Battle on – the Generalissimo
Print
The Hirshon New Jersey Rutt’s Hut Rippers And Secret Slaw
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
Ingredients
- For the hot dogs:
- top-quality, natural casing beef hot dogs
- a quantity of cooking oil, made from peanut oil with some rendered bacon fat in it at a 4:1 ratio – this is TFD’s take on the cooking fat used by Rutt’s
- ***
- For the secret slaw:
- 4 cups fine-chopped cabbage
- 1 cup fine-chopped carrot
- 1 cup fine-chopped green pepper
- 1 cup fine-chopped onion
- ¼ cup pickling salt
- 1 cup bottled water plus 2 Tbsp.
- 1 cup white vinegar
- ½ tsp. celery seed (TFD change, original was 1 tsp.)
- ½ tsp. celery salt (TFD addition)
- ½ tsp. mustard seed
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 tsp. freshly-ground mustard seed (TFD note – or use English mustard powder)
- 1 ½ tsp. ground turmeric
- 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 (1-quart) sterilized canning jar with lid and ring
Instructions
- Combine the cabbage, carrot, green pepper, onion and pickling salt in a large bowl, toss to combine. Allow to sit 2 hours.
- Rinse the mixture thoroughly with cold water, drain and squeeze to remove excess liquid.
- Combine the vegetables with the water and vinegar in a large pot. Bring the mixture to a low boil and simmer for 1 hour covered. Stir the celery seed, the mustard seed, and sugar into the vegetables.
- Mix the ground mustard, turmeric and flour together in a bowl.
- Carefully spoon 2 Tbsp. of the boiling water into the mustard mixture, stir into a paste. Add the paste back into the boiling vegetable mixture, cook and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes more.
- Seal in sterilized quart canning jar while mixture is still hot. Cool completely before using.
- For the hot dogs:
- Fry hot dogs 2 at a time in hot oil until they float to the surface, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Serve in a soft bun with the secret slaw!
- Category: Recipes
Nutrition
- Calories: 516.35 kcal
- Sugar: 106.89 g
- Sodium: 1019.31 mg
- Fat: 3.59 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
- Trans Fat: 0.01 g
- Carbohydrates: 119.31 g
- Fiber: 4.95 g
- Protein: 4.07 g
- Cholesterol: 4.78 mg
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And to nail down the relish’s authenticity even further, the given address of 417 River Road is the once, current, and future location of Rutt’s Hut in Clifton.
Well how cool is that – always a pleasure to see when my research pays off and I salute a fellow devotee of the Ripper! 😀
This is amazing! I was grilling up some dogs for my kiddo and starting raving to him and my wife about the ‘best relish on Earth.’ The Google machine brought me here to this mind-blowing article with such a priceless recipe! Downloaded and saved… sharing with my 60-something year old father from Bloomfield who grew up on these rippers! Thank you so much for sharing this! Much love!
You’re very welcome indeed, Citizen Andrew – I hope you enjoy the meal and the memories! 🙂