I'm Biggie: avid cook, speedy lunch packer, mom & former expat fluent in Japanese. 
How to make an octodog (hot dog octopus)
Japanese-style bento lunches for kids often feature the infamous “octodog”, a mini-sausage shaped like an octopus. I used to split hot dogs out of necessity when my son was just starting to eat solid foods to minimize the choking risk. Now, I’m more into quick and easy lunches than food art, but octodogs still thrill my three-year-old like nobody’s business and add some fun to a lunch.
I’ve seen a lot of different-looking octodogs in bentos, so I set out to compare how different sausages behave with different cooking techniques. The hot dogs to the left and right of the chopstick in the photo above were cooked with two different methods: one set was boiled, the other was fried in a pan with about a half-cup of water. Can you tell which is which? (Click to read the full how-to.)
Sausage Types: First, I looked at some commonly available sausages. From the left, there’s a mini cocktail sausage (Smoked Beef cocktail sausages from Costco), half of a regular American hot dog (Ball Park Franks), and a Japanese Kurobuta arabiki pork sausage (JFC brand) that I picked up at a local Japanese market. You can see that they’re different sizes, but a not-so-obvious difference is that the arabiki sausage uses a natural sausage casing that helps the octodog legs curl when cooked (and gives it a crunch when you bite into it). I’m not a big fan of the flavor or texture of the American smoked cocktail sausages; if you’re able to find a less processed sausage like the ones from Aidells (my favorite brand) I believe they’re worth the extra money, and they behave more like the Japanese sausages used for octodogs.
Cutting: Use a sharp knife to create the ‘legs’ of the octopus, leaving about a third of the sausage whole to form the head. The first two cuts that quarter the sausage are pretty easy; it’s the slicing of each remaining leg evenly in half that’s challenging. You can slice from the inside of the quarter leg down to the cutting board, but I find that I tend to make an uneven cut resulting in one fat, one skinny ‘leg’. I prefer to cut from the outside (as in the photo) to ensure even legs. I tried cutting the smallest cocktail sausages in quarters to see if I could get good results with less cutting, but the result was something that looked more like a strange quadropod than an octopus. Cut the tiniest sausages into sixths for better results (see the top photo for examples of both).
Gadgets? Yes, they sell gadgets out there just to cut octodogs (see the American octodog cutter for US$17 or the Japanese cutter for $2.50), but I prefer the precision of a knife. I did pick up the cheap plastic Japanese cutter and tried it out, but it wasn’t very sharp and mangled the sausages and hot dogs I used it on. Save your money and get your knives professionally sharpened instead (one of my Christmas presents last year) — it’ll pay off in your kitchen every day of the year with more precise cutting. They also sell mini sausage cutters for different shapes like a penguin, crab or tulip. The trick to getting good results with these is to briefly freeze the sausage for 20 minutes to firm things up before cutting, and to spray the inner cutting blades with cooking spray like Pam (then boil or fry briefly to help the design bloom). This improves the definition of the design so you don’t get a mushed up sausage.
Cooking: Now for the answer to the photo quiz above. The sausages on the right were boiled in water, and those on the left were fried in a shallow pan with a half cup of water to help the legs curl. I like the look of the boiled octodogs better, but the arabiki sausage looked passable with the quicker pan-fry with water method (this is true with other sausages with natural casings). The deeper water conducts heat more thoroughly throughout the sausage, which is key for hot dogs that need a little extra help. Simply pan-frying the hot dogs without water doesn’t seem to apply even enough heat to help the legs curl nicely. (EDIT: Japanese readers suggested deep-frying; I tested this and wrote a follow-up here. Frying produced the fantastically curled tentacles on the arabiki sausage below.)
Decoration: If you’re feeling super-ambitious, you can decorate your octodogs with little eyes and mouths. Stick black sesame seeds or onion seeds onto the head with a little honey, or use cream cheese or another sticky spread to affix little round cutouts of sliced cheese and nori to make eyes and mouths like the one shown in this article on Bentos, Childhood and Families in Manga. The lunch at left uses onion seeds — it’s a little snack bento I made in 2006. You can go all out on decorating if you like, or go minimal — the choice is yours.
* * * * *
Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Octodog with ketchup, orange wedge, and pad Thai noodles with shrimp.
Morning prep time: 8 minutes, using a leftover orange slice and pad Thai.
Packing: I put ketchup in a little wide-mouthed sauce container for easy dipping, and the lunch went into a 350ml Geki Rangers bento box with noodles in the place of the missing subcontainer.
Verdict: Boo hiss! Bug ate only the octodog at preschool, and left everything else. This was largely my fault, as for some reason the pad Thai got stiff and unappetizing and I hadn’t cut between the orange flesh and peel to make it easier to eat. In the car afterwards I helped him with the orange and coaxed him to eat the shrimp (one of his favorites), but no go on the noodles even after I brought them home and warmed them in the microwave. I tried a bite myself and understood why Bug rejected them… On the bright side, Bug was so excited watching me prepare the octodogs that evidently he paraded around his classroom at lunchtime showing everyone his octodog.
FURTHER READING:
- Decorative Food on Lunch in a Box (main page)
- Octodogs revisited: Fry hard
- Crab & rabbit-shaped sausage lunches
- How to make apple rabbits
- How to make zig-zag kiwi fruit
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
February 22nd, 2008 | Categories: bento, fish or seafood, for kids, lactose free, meat, parenthacks, pasta or noodles, recipe, tutorial or how to | 
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February 22nd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
When lunch fails, at least there’s octodogs to cheer us up.
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I thought that if she is taking octopus and making hot dogs out of them I am questioning her sanity and am out of here ;). I was pleasantl sursprised it was the other way around
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Leaving would have been figuratively
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Biggie, just a note to say how much I enjoy your blog - my kids are too old for the cute bento stuff, but I’m making healthy ones for myself at work. Thanks!
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Actually I don’t think anyone’s too old for octodogs.
My husband loves them as well as cutting the hot dogs into crabs.
My 5 year old son prefers the crab hotdog to the octodog ones.
My husband likes them both ^_^.
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Hi Biggie,
日本ã®åä¾›ãŸã¡ã‚‚タコã•ã‚“ソーセージãŒå¤§å¥½ã。
ã‚‚ã¡ã‚ã‚“ç§ã‚‚。
Japanese children also like octgogs very much. Either me. It make us smile:)
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Octodog sounds cute
Usually, I fry it with oil but next time I’ll boil it
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:35 am
Hi, Biggei !
At any age, children like an octopus shaped sausages.
My son love a crab shaped and a sunflower shaped one.
I think that deep-frying is the best way looking delicious.
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February 23rd, 2008 at 8:06 am
Nice octodog entry. I never thought to cut my hot dogs in half but that sure would make them fit easier into my Mr. Bento.
And thanks for the tip about avoiding the octodog cutter. I’ll stick with my knife.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:24 am
@1 from eudyptes: You said it — they are very cheerful!
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:37 am
@2 from Jessika: Now that I think about it, “hot dog octopus” is probably clearer than “octopus hot dog” — I edited the title. Trust the non-native English speaker to point out my English mistake!
Thank you.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:54 am
@4 from Artemisia: Thanks for the kind words, Artemisia! I’m having a lot of fun with the blog, glad you’re enjoying it.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:55 am
@5 from limu: I don’t know how motivated I’d be to make octodogs if it weren’t for my son, but I do have a soft spot for the little crab ones…
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:07 am
@6 from Sundae: ã‚ã–ã‚ã–英語ã§ã‚³ãƒ¡ãƒ³ãƒˆã‚’書ã„ã¦æœ‰é›£ã†ï¼ã‚„ã£ã±ã‚ŠãŸã“ã•ã‚“ソーセージã¯ã†ã‘ã¾ã™ã。ã§ã‚‚Sundaeã•ã‚“ã®ã‹ã‚ã„ã„ã‚ャラå¼ã¨æ¯”ã¹ã¦å¤§ã—ãŸã‚‚ã‚“ãªã„。
Thanks for taking the time to write a comment in English, Sundae! Octodogs are definitely a hit with my son, but compared with your cute “kyara-ben” food art bentos, they’re nothing special.
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:09 am
@7 from Yoshi: I wanted to get away from the oil for health reasons, but I probably should have thrown that method in the mix too for comparison purposes. Maybe an edit?
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I’ve seen them in Bentos but I wasn’t sure how to do it! Thanks!
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
@7 from Yoshi: I just did a follow-up entry on frying octodogs here.
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
@8 from hewei: I really like the crab one too — I haven’t tried the sunflower yet, but I will soon (have both sausages and quail eggs in the refrigerator). Thanks for the tip on frying; I just posted a follow-up with the deep-frying technique here.
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
@9 from Fourleafclover: Yeah, I wasn’t at all impressed with the cheapo cutter. Don’t know how the more expensive one performs, but I don’t see why I’d invest in a uni-tasker when I have nice, sharp knives instead.
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
@16 from Amber: Glad it was useful, Amber!
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I found an honest-to-goodness Octodog cutter still in the sleeve and never used at the thrift store for a few dollars and bought it immediately. I couldn’t justify the 17 dollars, but it was absolutely 3-dollar spiffy.
IIRC, the directions say that using all-beef hot dogs don’t work as well, but we’ve found that they do, as long as you snip the very tip of the tentacle end off before starting to cut. It allows the dog to split on the device where before it would only smash up.
Also, we microwave our octodogs and they curl right up. I stick a short chopstick in the underside (where the tentacles come together, stick the chopstick in a micro-safe measuring cup, and set the timer for 30 seconds. The suspended octodog curls right up
February 24th, 2008 at 11:01 am
@21 from marsneedsrabbits: Wow, great thrift store find!!! I love it when that happens (and I often find pretty plates and bowls for blog photos at thrift stores — for $1!).
Thanks for the input on the beef vs. pork hotdogs. Fascinating microwave technique — I’ll have to try that out.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I got my nephews, “Pop-Pop” (my husband), and my son Squinty hooked on octo-dogs and octo-squids.
Hmm. I’m surprised octo-squids weren’t mentioned.
March 8th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
@23 from Candi: Ha ha, I’m taking on one octo-creature at a time!
(Love the nickname Squinty, BTW.)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
[…] ideas for how to pack the cutest lunches ever. She has ideas on how to cut apples into rabbits, hot dogs into octopus shapes, and even how to boil eggs into different shapes! Though realistically […]
May 18th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Hello Ms. Biggie! I am 19 yrs old and let me just say thanks for the wonderful tips about preparing nice bentos. hontouni kawaii!!! anyway, im gonna try preparing one and i’ll let you know how it turns out. bye-bye!!!
June 4th, 2008 at 8:56 am
any idea how veggie dogs would do?
June 4th, 2008 at 9:32 am
@27 from jane: I’ve read about other people playing around with tofu dogs and veggie dogs — I seem to recall they’ve had issues getting the “tentacles” to curl attractively. Boiling or deep-frying (ugh) might yield better results, but I haven’t tested them out with alternative dogs yets. If you try it, I’d welcome your feedback!
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:03 am
I first saw these on your site and I FINALLY made them for my son today and he loved them! I don’t do bento, but i made him a little under the sea lunch and he ATE IT UP! Thank you!
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
@29 from Corinne: Kids really like these — glad your son did too!