Do You Have Enough Mayo In Your Fridge For This Massive Chilean Hot Dog?

With their accessible pricing and endless potential for customization, it's no surprise that hot dogs are popular worldwide. Just the United States alone is home to a sea of distinctly American hot dog styles, with renditions often associated with nearly every major city. And delicious riffs on this cured-meat-based sandwich only keep coming in Latin America, with various recipes spanning from Argentina all the way to Mexico.

Stop off in Chile, and you'll get an especially loaded version called the completo. All atop a classic wiener link, an arrangement of ingredients appears, including sauerkraut, diced tomatoes, pickled peppers, ketchup, mustard, eggs, fries, and more. Yet most essential to the dish is the exterior layer: a smear of guacamole, and even more crucially, mayo. As much as half a cup of the condiment secures the dog, forming a glue-like paste that spreads along the entire bun.

You're likely wondering how all this fits: Hot dog styles come with a best-suited bun, and the completo is no exception. To accommodate all the toppings, the bread is a larger 8 inches in size, and comes with a more rigid structure. The exterior becomes crunchier, while the inside remains extra-bready, thereby resisting moisture damage. So, with this hot dog, you can liberally lather on all the mayo from your fridge — the construction's built for it.

Completos are ubiquitously adored in Chile, even celebrated with their own holiday. Enjoyed in contexts ranging from street carts to designated restaurants, the sandwich also appears in domestic settings during a traditional midday tea break. Since the hot dog concept arrived from the United States during the 1920s, Chileans took on the completo and made it their own.

And just like in the U.S., the completo comes in many regional formats as well. From an olive sauce topping in the northern city of Arica, to an extra-filling rendition with cheese, crispy onions, and eggs called the a lo Pobre, there are many routes of assembly. Rivalries often appear in hot dog culture: Take the unique New York dog opposed to Chicago's rendition, for instance. And with the completo, the contention surrounds the placement of diced tomatoes. Some like them right atop the wiener, leading to added sogginess, while others prefer a bright dash of color atop.

Yet, where the general consensus lies is with the inclusion of mayo. Whether store-bought or homemade, the emulsion is widespread in the South American country and appears on sandwiches, salads, and more. So when you head out to eat a completo, expect a squeeze bottle to come tablesideand a request to ditch the mayonnaise reciprocated with a bewildered stare. For fans of the creamy condiment, this hot dog style is the perfect fit.