IF YOUR PREFERENCES in Mexican food run toward carne asada, machaca, flour tortillas, no rice in your burrito, and a more-is-better approach to fillings and toppings, you might consider declaring Sonoran food your favorite regional Mexican cuisine. To be certain, though, make a hungry and immediate visit to Sonora Carne Asada House, either the original location (5001 Auburn Way N., Auburn) or the new one in Hillman City (5901 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle).

Sonora, a northwest-ish state of Mexico, has a long coastline along the Gulf of California, and, with Arizona, is home to the Sonora Desert and eight Indigenous peoples. Spanish colonists wrought enormous changes here, among them the introduction of wheat and the Corriente breed of cattle.

Five centuries after the Spanish first arrived, Sonora today produces more beef than any other Mexican state, and is known for its oversized, puffy flour tortillas. The beef — lean, flavorful and often grazed on desert plants — is renowned when it’s grilled over mesquite, salted and sliced thin, as for carne asada.

Beef and wheat combine again in the beloved Sonoran dog, a spectacular entry into the global hot dog compendium. Typically, this dish begins with a fat bolillo roll, an exemplary bread that’s simultaneously fluffy and chewy. Next, a sausage (often beef, not always) is wrapped in bacon before grilling, creating a crisp and fatty jacket.

Toppings? Refried beans, diced onions and tomatoes, plentiful mayonnaise and fresh cheese, with drizzles of avocado sauce, mustard and possibly ketchup. Jalapeños in some form — fresh, pickled, roasted or mixed into the avocado sauce — are likely. A hot dog may not be considered a sandwich by everyone, but this one is a clear sibling to the torta.

The precise origins of the Sonoran dog are muddled. It rose up in either the 1970s or ’80s, maybe as early as the 1940s, most likely in Hermosillo, the state capitol of Sonora. Food buff John T. Edge questioned all of its bacon-wrapped mythos when he wrote about them for The New York Times back in 2009, wondering why bacon was considered a requirement for a beef-producing region’s dish (he suspected Oscar Mayer, not Hermosillo), as well as what toppings mattered the most to the hundreds of vendors known as “dogueros.”

Skip merrily ahead to 2018, when El Güero Canelo in Tucson, Ariz., won a James Beard American Classics award, partly for their Sonoran dog. (Exploring this award category is my most frequent travel advice within the U.S.)

A mildly troublesome outcome of one restaurant’s hot dog being anointed as an official award-winning Sonoran dog is that it creates room for the argument that any differences are incorrect. Well, the hot dog at Sonora Carne Asada House is different, and it is also wonderful.

As the restaurant’s co-owner Victor Rangel explains, Sonoran dogs have a lot of regional differences and personal preferences. His spots feature some of these styles as options, including a cheese dog wrapped in an Anaheim pepper. They also use 100% beef dogs — he mentions Rosarito as a popular brand — but mainly emphasize the bun, not the details within.

A local bakery uses the restaurant’s recipe for weekly deliveries, and, when served, they’re steamed, not griddled. “The bun has a little bit of sugar and is somewhat similar to a Hawaiian roll, but much less sweet and much fluffier,” Rangel says. My thoughts exactly.

When a Sonoran dog arrived at my table on a recent visit, there were no beans, no ketchup or mustard or onions. The roll was perfect in texture and enormous in size, and the thick topping layer of cheesy, mayonnaise-y, flavorful tomatoes was outstanding on its own. A trip to the salsa bar — grab some crispy tortillas while you’re there, for snacking purposes — supplied all conceivable topping options, including diced onions, thick avocado sauce, and pickled or roasted chilies. I preferred roasted, but it’s a hot dog — accessorize as you like.

Sonora Carne Asada House is filled with things I like. If the hot dog does not appeal, try a caramelo, which involves a flour tortilla with a nearly edge-to-edge blanket of crispy cheese topped with a heap of your chosen meat. Or have your burrito-loving mind blown via a Sonoran burro, with three meats, avocado, mushrooms, cheese and mayo. The counter person will cheerfully walk you through the entire menu, line by line.

Alternatively, bring Sonoran style to your home grill. Hit Pasteleria Y Panaderia La Ideal (8909 14th Ave. S., Seattle) for good bolillo rolls. Wrap a slice of bacon around each dog like a spiral before grilling. Add avocado sauce (Herdez Guacamole Salsa is good, if you don’t want to make your own), refried beans and your favorite salsa to the topping bar. Create a tasty approximation of Sonora Carne Asada House’s tomato topping by chopping and salting a Roma tomato and mixing it with equal amounts chopped queso Oaxaca and mayonnaise — it’s not unlike pimento cheese, and leftovers work well on crackers.