IKEA Singapore have launched a charcoal cheese hot dog and it’s making it very difficult to drool over.
On November 1st, the $2 black hot dog was released and will be available at the IKEA snack bar for one month.
The gothic grub is made up of a black bun and an extra-long black hot dog filled with gooey black cheese. For some reason, it’s not making us hungry.
When we say the hot dog is long, we mean really long. Considering the dish, for lack of a better term, is double the price of a regular IKEA hot dog, all 30cm of the thing adds some serious value to the snack food.
The hot dog doesn’t look incredibly appetising but apparently, it tastes just like a regular hot dog, according to a review on mothership.sg:
“Despite how it looks, the hotdog retained the classic refined taste of processed hotdog meat.”
IKEA in Singapore, ladies and gentlemen. pic.twitter.com/cvc4LuYckC
— Abudi Alsagoff (@AbudiAlsagoff) November 7, 2021
IKEA Malaysia has also released the charcoal cheese hot dog alongside a charcoal caramel soft serve available until the end of December. A review from @coconutcandyy on Instagram claims the hot dog does in fact have the same classic flavour, however, the ice cream tastes a little funky.
“Couldn’t taste the caramel at all, plus I think the addition of charcoal powder somehow alters the taste of the soft serve.”
Despite all the excitement, this isn’t the first time charcoal hot dogs have been sold at the IKEA snack bar. In 2016 IKEA Japan was the first to sell a black hot dog, made with edible bamboo charcoal.
Before that, Burger King created their Halloween Whopper, released first in Japan then followed by a swing and a miss when it hit the US market in 2015.
Instead of using charcoal, with its detoxing benefits, the bun was simply dyed black and customers complained that their poops turned green. This wasn’t a medical concern, but simply made people quite uncomfortable, with the hashtag #greenpoop trending for a hot minute.
It TOTALLY worked!#HalloweenWhopper #GreenPoop pic.twitter.com/FsKkv83HbB
— Mark Maggiore (@markmaggiore) October 9, 2015
Activated charcoal has been sold at health stores since the early 2000s, claiming cleansing benefits, but after the introduction at fast-food chains, charcoal burger buns started popping up in every hip cafe and restaurant.
IKEA has not yet mentioned the temporary additions to their menu, but since they are advertised as charcoal cheese hot dogs in-store, one could assume the product certainly features the well-regarded health product instead of a little black dye. Given the nature, if you can call it that, of the ingredients in their regular hot dogs, a detoxifying recipe is a welcome surprise.
