FACE-OFF: Purefoods Tender Juicy vs Century Healthylicious Hotdogs

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I LOVE HOTDOGS! hahaha

Grew up with the red, sweet and juicy kind that I always get wit pandesal, tasty or even rice for my baon. Even bigger smiles when I get a jumbo or a cheesedog, better yet - jumbo cheesedog! I remember surviving hurried college lunches with a footlong sandwich for only P35 (with coleslaw and cheese na yun!) When my palate started to get more sophisticated, I tried german franks, chicken hotdogs, all meat sausages, german sausages - but nothing more comforting than a red hotdog despite the rumors when I was a kid that there is worm meat in it!

With the advent of tuna food product derivatives - tuna spread, tuna mayo spread, tuna loaf, tuna paella; it was but natural that they come out with a tuna hotdog. At dahil hindi na baby si Aljur, he graduates into a healthier alternative. Question is, is the hotdog yummier than Aljur? hahaha

I put this to the test personally and with one of my nephews, Alrick on fine Saturday breakfast morning. The Purefoods TJ vs Century Healthylicious.



Both hotdogs look the same to the untrained eye - red, plastic casing, same size, same feel.

 The 500g pack of Purefoods TJ's came with a little contraption which is supposed to make spiral cuts on your hotdog. You know how we like to do 3 diagonal slices on each side of the hotdog so it cooks evenly - but really we got used to yaya or mommy it just to make it cute.

Works well with the TJs

The Tuna got dilapidated! Texture of this product is definitely different before cooking. Alternatively you can do the diagonal slices (carefully) and it will be just fine. Really is softer, more delicate.

TIP: Do not slice your hotdogs as it releases its juices prematurely making it dry. Thaw your hotdog well and fry or steam gently. :)

TJ (unsliced), TJ (spiral slicer), Tuna (dilapidated), Tuna (unliced, breaks easily)

More importantly the taste test! :)

I subject Alrick to the hotdog faceoff!

Blind test begins

1st Hotdog (TJ)

2nd Hotdog (Tuna)

Now which one is better?

The verdict...

Alrick was able to spot the TJ hotdog. He had problems with the texture of the Tuna frank - it was not juicy and easily turned into mush when chewed. He also described it to taste like, what else, but fish! Being used to the sweet and juicy bangers, he did not want to take another bite of the tuna hotdog. I guess, as the Purefoods TJ tagline goes - KIDS CAN TELL!

Will be difficult to fool kids into eating "healthier" dawgs ayt?

Personally the tuna taste was something I expected. What I did not expect is that it was a bit spicy similar to how spict tuna in oil from a can would taste like. Texture was also a fail if they call it a hotdog. Given the how tuna or any fish for that matter cooks, it was dry I suppose from being ground too fine. Moreover, the TV commercial showed the hotdog to be JUICY when it was pricked with a fork, just like the other hotdog ads! That was overpromise right there. Expectations were not meant for both the cooked tuna hotdogs with or without the grooves. Unlike in the regular TJs, both the ones cooked with and without grooves remained juicy and kept, as they say in food science, its turgor pressure (I got an A in Food Science in college!). I guess it would have been better if they called their product Century Tuna Vienna Sausage and put it in a can - ans set the right expectation in both taste and texture.

Again nothing really bad about the Tuna Hotdog from Century, it just did not compare well to the "original".

Given that it is being positioned as a Healthylicious Hotdog, I think we have well tackled the "licious" part of that. Now comes the big Q, is it really healthy? For starters, maybe try steaming or microwaving so as not to add more oil to what you're eating though as it is, it contains no trans fat. Sure it has Omega 3 DHA coz of the Tuna which help prevent Alzheimer's disease. One serving (60g) is 170 calories with 13g of fat. The Purefoods TJs per serving (45g) has 150 calores with 13g fat. Notice how they do not declare calories per piece but per suggested serving size but a straight line computation at 60g (approx 2 hotdogs, regular sized) will say that you will definitely save up on calories if you eat the Tuna variety. So one word of advise - calories in, calories out! :)



Ingredients of a TJ hotdog



Ingredients of Century Tuna Hotdog... quite similar to a regular hotdog.

Except that it is not purely tuna!!! These contain chicken meat!!! Just a warning to anyone thinking of eating these hotdogs because they are pescovegetarians (vegetarians who get protein source from eating fish). Well the tuna is said to be the chicken of the sea! hahaha This is done to basically save up on cost I guess and make the hotdog moist (as opposed to what they can get from doing 100% tuna, but still not compared to its all meat counterpart).

So take your pick, both are good eats. The decision will depend on your motivation and how you want your hotdog to taste like. And who you like better between Aljur and JLC! :)

Quick trivia to end this entry. Why do you think hotdogs in the Philippines are red? Most common and I suppose logical explanation is our Spanish influence. We have been exposed to processed and cured sausages like the chorizo de Bilbao which are red and we have adopted to that when the "American" franks came in. So what makes the Spanish sausages red in the first place? It's the nitrates that give the meat its pinkish/red color and being accustomed to seeing red sausages triggered our brains to think that it is more delicious that way!

Thanks for reading and this entry is really an informative article as opposed to lambasting any of the brands mentioned. Please retweet or share in Facebook if you want others to make an informed choice. :)