Hibachi @ Home

If it's really true that we are what we eat, then my son, Joey, is mostly Mexican with some Asian thrown in for good measure. We eat at our local Mexican place so often that the staff is firmly convinced we all speak Spanish. If I refuse Mexican on the grounds that we have already had it twice this week, Joey will usually relent for hibachi. Except he hates all the noise and fire...sensory overload. I hate that we often spend $80 to eat there. So I decided I could make teriyaki chicken just as good at home.
The trick to making good hibachi-style food is the grill. The teppanyaki grill at your favorite Japanese restaurant provides a big, flat, really hot surface to sear the food. In a skillet, it is difficult to get a good sear. The steep sides of the skillet and the crowded surface often results in steaming the food rather than grilling it. One solution is to invest in a grill pan that covers 2 burners on your stovetop. An electric griddle doesn't stay a consistent temperature, so it will cool down when you add food and take a while to recover. Another solution is to use a heavy-duty cookie sheet across 2 burners. You can also use a large skillet, but you might need to cook in several batches. If you use the grill pan or the cookie sheet, be sure to remember that you will have hot spots right over the burners. My stove has a built-in griddle, but I still prefer the grill pan out of all the above methods for the larger cooking surface and for ease of clean-up.

The other trick is the butter. If you pay attention during the hibachi show at a hibachi restaurant, you will notice that the chef adds butter to EVERYTHING. The beauty of cooking for yourself is that you have control over the amount of butter, if any, that you choose to add.  Just a little butter added to each dish will give you the flavor you love from your favorite restaurant.  This is a case where more butter isn't necessarily better, because you want the flavor of the veggies to shine through.

My technique is to sear my chicken, then remove it to a cutting board and cut it into chunks while the veggies are cooking.  I cut up all my veggies  before I start.  Once I remove the chicken, I cook the cabbage, and then remove it to a dish to keep warm.  After the cabbage, I do the mixed vegetables.  I try to keep a gentle hand on the soy sauce because it adds a lot of salty flavor; just a couple of shakes is plenty.  After the veggies are completed, I return the cubed chicken to the pan and cook it the rest of the way through.  The teriyaki sauce is added at the very end, and the heat is reduced before adding it so that it doesn't burn.  Be conscious of how fast everything is cooking (the cabbage will cook very quickly and  burn if you aren't keeping a close eye on it) and adjust the heat if needed.

Here is my menu for a delicious Hibachi @ Home meal (recipes posted individually below):







Teriyaki Chicken
Hibachi-style cabbage
Hibachi-style zucchini, onions, and mushrooms
Rice (your choice of steamed or fried, brown or white)

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Location:South Charleston,United States