How to Make the Best Ham and Cheese Hoagie Ever
The real secret is subtlety.
This is the best recipe for a hoagie ever, at least in my opinion. It is inspired by Red’s Hoagies & Groceries, a 73-year-old neighborhood corner store in South Philadelphia, which I visited several times reporting my essay on the history of the Big Sandwich. Red’s, which is at the corner of South Ninth and Mifflin Streets, is not famous or anything. In fact it was a recommendation from the crossing guard at a nearby elementary school.
I will admit that on my first visit I had low expectations, given Red’s half-bare shelves and unhurried air. I let the counterman — a nephew of Red, who was called that because of his carrot top — guide my order. I told him I wanted the regulars’ favorite. That, he explained to me, was “a ham and cheese hoagie with pepper seed,” which appeared to be dried hot red cherry peppers with a little oil and vinegar. I actually still had low expectations when I opened my sandwich, because it seemed kind of skimpy for a hoagie (see below left, the right side is just mortadella and cheese). The Red’s ham and cheese with pepper seed had mayo, thinly sliced white onion, a paper thin piece of tomato, pepper seed and the thinnest, saddest layer of plain ham and white American cheese.
As it turns out, just one layer of meat and cheese — which technically get doubled, because Philadelphians tend to line these things down the spine of the loaf, rather than on one side — is perfectly, exactly right. Combined with mayo, tomato, white onion and the tang and heat of the pepper seed, it’s a sum of the parts are greater than the whole type deal, for sure. I’ve since made this sandwich for many discerning food snobs — I am a professional food writer, after all — and they all agree with me. They beg me to make it, tell me to open a sandwich shop, ask for the recipe, and when I do they rarely remember to follow the rules, because it is so damn tempting to believe more is more.
Don’t be like them. Don’t be tempted to add extra meat and cheese — it doesn’t taste as good. And don’t make them fancy — ordinary boiled or Virginia deli ham is great. Do get American cheese, not cheese product or cheese food. Do not skip the mayo or the onions; they are both necessary for best-ness. You can sometimes skip the tomato, but only because you can’t always find a good one, and bad tomatoes are depressing.
And if you do not live in a place where good hoagie or hoagie type rolls are ubiquitous, as in anywhere outside of Philadelphia, South Jersey and New Orleans, where po-boy rolls are equally great, go for a soft Italian or Cuban or Puerto Rican pan de agua or pan sobao. Nothing too dense or hard to chew. In other words, err on the side of soft, not fancy.
The one tricky ingredient is the pepper seed. I’ve been back to Red’s a lot, even though I live two hours away in Brooklyn, and I still don’t know for sure if they make their pepper seed or if they buy it. For years, I’ve been making it with what I think is maybe an even better-tasting condiment, which is the chopped, pickled cherry pepper condiment Philadelphians called hoagie spread.
Cherry peppers (which are a Philly favorite) have a ton of seeds, so hoagie spread is essentially pepper seed, though it seems a wee bit wetter and sweeter than Red’s. You might have to order it online, if you don’t live in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, or have a mother-in-law in South Jersey, like I do. If you have a choice, opt for Cento over Tallarico, mainly because Cento doesn’t add emulsifiers and has a slightly drier, less sticky texture and slightly less sweetness, making it even closer in spirit to Red’s pepper seed. You can also just buy whole pickled hot cherry peppers and give them a whiz in a blender or food processor. I usually pour off some of the brine it comes with and add a little white vinegar, when I go that route. And sometimes I mix in a little dry red chile flakes I crushed myself, to make it even more like Red’s.
My Red’s Ham and Cheese Hoagie
1 soft sandwich loaf, such as a hoagie roll, po-boy bread or Cuban loaf
Mayonnaise
Hoagie spread
1/4 pound (115 g) thinly sliced deli ham
1/4 pound (115 g) thinly sliced white American cheese
1 ripe tomato, thinly sliced (optional during bad-tomato season)
1/2 big sweet white onion, shaved or sliced paper thin (not optional)
Cut the loaf in half lengthwise, but leave it attached at one side so that it can be butterflied open.
Spread both cut sides of the bread with a healthy amount of mayonnaise. Spread the bottom side of the loaf with a healthy amount of hoagie spread.
Place one layer of ham slices evenly across the whole butterflied loaf, then top them with one layer of cheese. The slices can overlap slightly, just make sure everything is covered. Arrange a single layer of tomatoes on the bottom side of the loaf, and layer on the onions. You want the onions to fully cover the opened loaf, which is why they should be as thin as possible. (You might not use all of your ham and cheese or onions, depending on the length of your roll. So make another sandwich.)
Gently close the hoagie, cut it half or into thinnish slices party-sub style, and serve.
