Hibachi Fried Rice (Japanese Steakhouse Garlic Butter Fried Rice)
The flat-top fried rice of America's Japanese steakhouses: freshly boiled long-grain rice fried until it sizzles and pops with soft egg and scallions, glazed with soy sauce and mirin and finished with garlic butter.
Teppanyaki means cooking on an iron plate, and in the United States it is better known as hibachi. Wikipedia notes that in Japan a hibachi is a different thing, a small open-grate charcoal grill. The same article says the teppanyaki steakhouse is believed to have been started by Shigeji Fujioka of the Misono chain, which says it was the first to cook Western-style food on a teppan in Japan, in 1945, and that the Benihana chain, which made teppanyaki famous in the US, opened its first restaurant in New York City in 1964. Wikipedia's Benihana page says that first restaurant was on West 56th Street, opened by 25-year-old Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki with $10,000 he had saved driving an ice cream truck in Harlem.
Benihana's own page describes its signature fried rice cooked on the teppan with garlic butter (see the Benihana-inspired recipe). This version is America's Test Kitchen's, created to go with its Japanese Steakhouse Steak and Vegetables. Instead of using leftover rice, it boils the rice like pasta, which rinses off the extra starch and cuts the cooking time, then seasons the fried rice with soy sauce, sweet mirin and a spoonful of garlic butter.
Why it works the kitchen science
Boiling the rice like pasta
Lots of water washes away surface starch and cooks the rice faster, so the grains stay separate in the pan without being made a day ahead, ATK says.
Butter at the end
Stirring in garlic butter off the high heat keeps the garlic from scorching and gives the rice the rich, glossy steakhouse finish.
Step by step
- Step 1
Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the rice and boil, stirring now and then, about 12 minutes, until just cooked through. Drain in a fine-mesh strainer and let it steam dry.
- Step 2
Whisk the eggs, sesame oil, salt and white pepper in a bowl. In a second bowl, mash the butter and garlic together.
- Step 3
Heat the vegetable oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the eggs and stir with a rubber spatula about 15 seconds, until set but still wet.
- Step 4
Add the scallions and rice and cook about 3 minutes, stirring, until the rice is sizzling and popping loudly.
- Step 5
Add the soy sauce and mirin and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes, until thoroughly combined.
- Step 6
Stir in the garlic butter until it melts into the rice, and serve right away.
Hibachi Fried Rice (Japanese Steakhouse Garlic Butter Fried Rice)
Serves 4 · 4 side servings · 1 hr total
Rice
- 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
- 3 quarts water
Eggs and garlic butter
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1 garlic clove, minced
Stir-fry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 scallions, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp mirin
Method
- Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the rice and boil, stirring now and then, about 12 minutes, until just cooked through. Drain in a fine-mesh strainer and let it steam dry.
- Whisk the eggs, sesame oil, salt and white pepper in a bowl. In a second bowl, mash the butter and garlic together.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the eggs and stir with a rubber spatula about 15 seconds, until set but still wet.
- Add the scallions and rice and cook about 3 minutes, stirring, until the rice is sizzling and popping loudly.
- Add the soy sauce and mirin and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes, until thoroughly combined.
- Stir in the garlic butter until it melts into the rice, and serve right away.
Adapted from Matthew Fairman, "Simple Hibachi-Style Fried Rice", America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Country, October/November 2019; serves 4). We follow it as written: 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice boiled in 3 quarts of water about 12 minutes and drained; 3 eggs whisked with 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp white pepper; garlic butter of 1 tbsp butter and 1 garlic clove; 1 tbsp oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; eggs 15 seconds; rice and 4 scallions about 3 minutes; 1 1/2 tbsp each soy sauce and mirin about 2 minutes. ATK lists 1 hour total; the prep and cook split is ours. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- ATK says black pepper can replace the white pepper.
- Mirin is in the Japanese section of most supermarkets.
- ATK's related recipes include a spicy mayonnaise (yum-yum sauce) and a white mustard sauce for the steak and vegetables.
- For a griddle show at home, cook it on a preheated electric griddle or a large cast-iron plancha, in the same order.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Benihana invented hibachi. Disputed: Wikipedia credits Benihana with making teppanyaki famous in the US in 1964, but says the teppanyaki steakhouse is believed to have started with Misono in Japan, which claims 1945.
- "Hibachi" is the right name. Documented as a US usage only: Wikipedia says a hibachi in Japan is a different grill.
- Fried rice needs leftover rice. Disputed: ATK boils fresh rice instead; see Thai Crab Fried Rice for the rest of the argument.
- Benihana started in Tokyo in 1945. Disputed: Wikipedia's lead says Rocky Aoki's father founded it as a cafe in 1945, while its history section says his café was destroyed in 1945 and reopened as Benihana in 1947.
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