DIY Benihana Recipes You Can Make at Home (2024)

FAQs

What brand of rice does Benihana use? ›

Japanese restaurants like Benihana and Shogun typically serve a type of short-grain rice known as "Calrose rice" or simply "Japanese rice." Calrose rice is a medium- to short-grain rice variety that is commonly used in Japanese cuisine.

Once the rice is mature, each grain is harvested and carefully dried to maintain an ideal moisture level. This ensures perfect, tender and fluffy Benihana rice once it's cooked by our master teppanyaki chefs. At Benihana, creating classic flavors that guests crave means using quality ingredients for each recipe.

The fine, long grains of jasmine rice with its delicate flavour are perfect for fried rice. Precook the rice at least 30 minutes, but preferably one day, before making fried rice and keep it uncovered in the fridge.

Avocado Oil: I like using avocado oil because it's full of healthy fats, but any neutral oil works for this recipe! Eggs: A key component to fried rice is the scrambled egg, so don't skip this, in this recipe!

What sauce do hibachi chefs use on rice? If you've been to a hibachi restaurant, you've no doubt seen the unlabeled plastic squirt bottles they use to season all the food. These bottles contain a variety of oils and a soy sauce or soy sauce blend that gives hibachi food its distinct flavor.

Chinese fried rice is made in a wok, over an open flame, turned up to Gates Of Hell levels of heat. As much as 750 degrees Fahrenheit. That compares with about 450 degrees in the center of a teppan (the correct word for what Americans call a hibachi). Because of that heat, the rice is stirred and tossed constantly.

About Hibachi Fried Rice

It is like classic fried rice, plus the savory flavor from lots of butter. The Japanese word Hibachi means “fire bowl.” It is also called Teppanyaki-style cooking. Traditionally, this cooking style refers to an open-top ceramic bowl containing burning charcoal for heating purposes.

Normally, minced garlic is sautéed in butter or oil to flavor the oil. Benihana uses a compound butter where roasted garlic, sweet, whipped butter, freshly ground black pepper, soy sauce and lemon juice is mashed up with whipped butter. Many Benihana copycat recipes call for minced garlic mixed with butter.

The most widely consumed rice in Japan is a cultivar of Japonica rice, a short-grain rice with a firm texture. Compared to its long-grain counterparts such as jasmine and basmati, Japonica rice is characterized by its plump shape and sticky texture that makes it easy to pick up with chopsticks.

Named after his parents' Tokyo coffee shop, Benihana opened in 1964, featuring an authentic Japanese farmhouse interior and food prepared on steel teppanyaki grills right in front of customers. His highly trained teppanyaki chefs delighted customers with intricate knife work and theatrics.

Should I use basmati or jasmine rice for fried rice? ›

Basmati is a go-to for making a pilaf, biryani, plov, or the classic Persian dish called chelow. This variety also commonly serves as a base for curry. Jasmine rice is what shoppers usually look for when picking up ingredients for fried rice, com do (Vietnamese red rice) and hung kao mun gati (Thai coconut rice).

Signature flavor

To give your dish that signature fried rice taste, you'll need to drizzle in sesame oil and soy sauce, but feel free to use as much or as little as you wish. You can even mix in things like garlic powder, ginger root, or Sriracha sauce and chili pepper for a bit of a kick.

Fresh-cooked: So long as you spread the rice out on a plate or tray while it's still hot and give it a few minutes to allow some surface moisture to evaporate, you can make excellent fried rice with fresh rice. Day-old rice: Day-old rice tends to clump, so you'll need to break it up by hand before stir-frying.

The top-secret cooking oil used by hibachi chefs is a combination of 4 basic ingredients; sesame oil, olive oil, mirin, and soy sauce. And to balance out all the butter, I add tons of veggies.

What kind of oil is used in Japanese hibachi restaurants? Any good oil, such as peanut oil, will do, but you may want to add 10% or more Chinese or Japanese sesame oil to get a more authentic taste. Tempura oil from Japan is occasionally available in the Japanese market. It is expensive and unnecessary.

Benihana uses Safflower Oil – I opted for Canola Oil. I'm not one to buy a special oil for one recipe. More on this in the tips & tricks below.

In the United States, teppanyaki (more commonly known simply as hibachi) was made famous by the Benihana restaurant chain, which opened its first restaurant in New York in 1964. Though Benihana cooks their food teppanyaki-style, they also serve dishes such as hibachi steak and chicken.