PHOTOGRAPHS: RACHEL PICK
Until recently, Vancouver laws prohibited the sale of street food - except for hot dogs. Husband and wife entrepreneurs Noriki and Misa Tamura turned that restriction into a novel product. In 2005, after emigrating from Japan, they launched Japadog, a food truck serving hot dogs with Japanese flavours. Even in a city with a now-thriving food truck scene, Japadog continues to attract queues, particularly for its signature terimayo, a hot dog topped with teriyaki sauce, mayonnaise and seaweed, and oroshi, mounded with daikon (a type of radish). There’s also the negimiso turkey dog with shredded cabbage and miso sauce; okonomi pork sausage with okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes); and a yakisoba hot dog with stir-fried noodles. Noriki says you’d never see this style of hot dog in Japan (they’re his invention), but in a city where nearly half the population is of Asian heritage, this Japanese-Canadian hybrid is fulfilling Japadog’s mission of ‘delivering dreams, happiness and excitement to the world - through hot dogs’