Coconut curry chicken dog

Fried crispy wontons: thaw wonton wrappers if needed. Slice the wrappers in long strips about a quarter-inch wide. 

In a medium or small pot or pan, bring peanut or vegetable oil to 350 F (175 C).

Fry the wonton pieces in batches for 1 to 2 minutes or until they are starting to brown just a little. Carefully move the fried wonton pieces to a paper towel-lined plate or sheet pan and sprinkle salt on them while they are still warm. 

Grind chicken and mix sausage: cut your chicken into 1 to 2-inch square pieces. Grind the chicken meat in a food processor in quick pulses (or if using pre-ground meat, unwrap).

Place the meat into a large bowl once it is ground. Add the salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, sugar, MSG, and finely diced cilantro to the bowl with the ground chicken and mix well. 

Form sausage: add a sixth of the meat mixture to the middle of a piece of plastic wrap and try to form into a long row of chicken sausage about 1-inch thick. Wrap the plastic wrap around the meat, helping to form a hot dog-shaped tube of meat inside of the plastic wrap. Place on a sheet pan or plate and continue doing the other 5 wrapped chicken sausages. Place the pan or plate in the refrigerator for at least an hour or up to 3 or 4 days. Remove from the fridge right before you plan to sandwich. 

Coconut Curry Sauce: pour half of a can of coconut milk into a small bowl. Add 2 teaspoons cornstarch and whisk thoroughly. This is the thickening liquid. 

Add a teaspoon of oil to a medium pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the diced onions and cook for 2 minutes, then add red bell peppers, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring often for 2 minutes.

After 2 minutes, add panang curry paste and peanut butter to the red pepper mixture and cook, stirring often for 1 minute.

Add the leftover 1/2 can of coconut milk to the pan. Stir everything in the pan well. Then add the bowl full of coconut milk and cornstarch (aka thickening liquid) to the pan. Stir everything well again.

Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken.

Add in brown sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice. Stir together well. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper if you think it needs some.

Cook chicken sausage: Preheat a pan for 4 or 5 minutes with 1 teaspoon of oil in the pan. Carefully unwrap the chicken sausage from the piece of plastic wrap. 

When the oil starts to shimmer, add the sausage to the pan and cook for 4 minutes. Flip to a second side and cook for another 4 minutes. Flip the sausage to another uncooked side and cook for another 4 minutes. At this point, the sausage should be pretty well-browned on most sides and should be cooked through, but if there seems to be another side that isn't browned or hasn't touched the pan, roll it to that side and cook it for at least an additional 2 minutes. 

Warm curry sauce: if your curry sauce is straight from the fridge, you can add 5 or 6 tablespoons of sauce and microwave it or add five or six tablespoons per sausage sandwich to a small pan for a few minutes to warm it up.

Toast or warm bun: if you have a split top bun, you can toast it in the pan on each exposed side while the sausage cooks. If you have a traditional hot dog bun, you can microwave it or toast it in a toaster oven for a brief period of time just to soften it up.

Sandwich assembly: split the toasted bun and add a tablespoon or two of warmed curry sauce into the bun. 

Then add the cooked chicken sausage and top it with more curry sauce. Sprinkle on some diced cilantro, and then add a small pile of crispy wontons. 

Serve and enjoy.