Hibachi Chicken Recipe (2024)

• No special equipment required: All you need is a large nonstick skillet!
• Restaurant level flavor: Every element of this dish is seasoned to perfection namely with soy sauce, oyster sauce and toasted sesame oil. The oyster sauce and sesame oil make a world of difference and elevate your Chicken Hibachi to 5-star dining.
• The juiciest chicken around:You will LOVE the texture of the chicken! This recipeutilizes the easy restaurant velveting technique to produce smooth, tender, melt-in-your-mouth chicken just like your favorite restaurant. Once you try it, you’ll never go back!
• Versatile:You can use chicken breasts or chicken thighs or even swap in beef, pork or shrimp. The veggies are completely flexible, perfect for using up leftovers, and the fried rice is ideal with any kind of leftover rice.

• Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, totally personal preference, however, breasts are more traditional in hibachi.
• Velveting ingredients: As discussed baking soda, soy sauce, rice wine and cornstarch work together to create the most tender chicken.
• Sesame oil:Please usetoastedsesame oil. Toasted sesame oilboasts a strong nutty aroma and flavor whereas light sesame oil is a low flavor oil.
• Garlic and ginger: These aromatics are added at the end of cooking the chicken for a spicy, zingy depth.

• Zucchini: Chop the zucchini into thick slices so it stays crisp tender (no need to peel!).
• Carrot: Slice the carrot thinly so it cooks up crisp-tender in the same time as the other veggies.
• Mushrooms: Slice the mushrooms in half, or quarters if extra large. The mushrooms are meant to caramelize slightly, but remain a little firm.
• Bell pepper: Use one red bell pepper for its sweetness, chopped into 1-inch pieces.
• Onion: Chop the onion into 1 to 2 inch pieces.
• Soy sauce: The vegetables are seasoned simply with soy sauce salt, and pepper.
• Oil: Use a neutral oil to stir fry the vegetables such as light olive oil, canola oil, avocado oil or vegetable oil.

• Cooked rice: You’ll need to plan ahead for this recipe so you can use chilled, 2-day-old prepared rice (or see tips section for chilling fresh rice).Fresh rice will become mushy when stir fried. You can use any type of rice, but I find basmati is the best at not become mushy or sticking together.
• Soy sauce: Every layer of the Chicken Hibachi is flavored with soy sauce! It flavors the rice with its salty depth.
• Oyster sauce: This is a game changer and will elevate your fried rice and all of your Asian cooking! Oyster sauce is a thick, brown sauce with a balance between sweet and salty with an earthy undertone. You can find oyster sauce in the Asian aisle of any supermarket for only a few dollars. Please use QUALITY oyster sauce such asLee Kum Keeor Kikkoman. You truly can taste the difference and will be sorely disappointed with less quality brands.
• Eggs: The eggs are scrambled in the center of the rice before being mixed in.
• Green onions: Use four green onions, including both the light and dark green parts.
• Butter and oil: By using both butter an oil, you reap the indulgent, buttery taste while the oil ensures the butter doesn’t burn. Use a neutral tasting oil and unsalted butter.
• Garlic: I use 3 cloves, but use more or less to taste.
• Rice wine: This adds a complex sweetness and depth of flavor. I use “Kikkoman Aji-Mirin: Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning” which is commonly found in the Asian section of most grocery stores or you can Amazon it. I highly suggest you google image before you head off to the grocery store so you know exactly what you are looking for. The best substitute for rice wine is pale dry sherry. Do NOT substitute rice wine with rice vinegar, they are NOT the same. Rice vinegar will add an acidic bite without the sweetness.

• Step 1: Make Yum Yum Sauce. Start the Yum Yum Sauce first so it has time to chill. Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

• Step 2: Marinate the chicken. In a large bowl, whisk together the velveting/marinade ingredients, then add the chicken and turn to coat. Let the chicken marinate at room temperature while you prep the veggies.

• Step 3: Cook the chicken. After the chicken has marinated for about 30 minutes, add it to a hot, oiled skillet and sear on both sides. Add a pad of butter, garlic and ginger and sauté for 30 seconds, or until the chicken is cooked through.

• Step 4: Stir-fry the veggies. To the same skillet, add a little more oil and stir-fry the vegetables just until they’re crisp-tender. Add the garlic and ginger and cook an additional 30 seconds. Remove the veggies to a plate.

• Step 5: Stir-fry the rice. To the same skillet, melt the butter and oil. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant. Add the rice and sauce and cook an additional 3-4 minutes. Next, make a well in the center and scramble the eggs inside the well. Stir the rice and scrambled eggs together, then stir in the green onions.

• Step 6: Plate and serve. Divvy up the fried rice, veggies, and chicken to serving plates and serve warm with chilled Yum Yum Sauce on the side.

Homemade Hibachi Recipe Tips

• Make the Yum Yum Sauce first.Refrigerate the sauce for at least 30 minutes, even better if you have 2 hours, or overnight. This will give the flavors a chance to meld together.
• Don’t chop the chicken too small. Larger pieces of chicken will be juicier because they sear on the outside while the inside remains tender.
• Don’t marinate the chicken for too long. The bite-size pieces of chicken should not be marinated longer than 30 minutes or else they can become mushy due to the baking soda and cornstarch.
• Use a nonstick skillet. The velveting on the chicken makes it prone to sticking, so you must use a nonstick skillet (this one is my favorite).
• Don’t cook the chicken at high heat. The velveting coating on the chicken makes it brown more easily, so don’t cook it at high heat or the outsides will burn before the insides have time to cook. Be prepared to adjust the heat as needed.
• Use cold rice.You must use chilled, cooked rice, otherwise, your fried rice will be mushy and clump together. Two-day-old rice is ideal because it’s not only chilled but slightly dried out. However, if you can’t plan ahead, spread your freshly made rice on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for 10-15 minutes until chilled (but not frozen).
• Rinse rice well before cooking. Rice contains a lot of gluten, which will cause the rice to stick together and can even make it mushy if not rinsed thoroughly.
• Use a hot pan. Make sure you wait until your pan is nice and hot before adding your chicken, veggies, or rice. This does NOT mean high heat – it simply means the pan has had time to reach temperature.
• Use butter:There’s a reason why Japanese steak houses use a big slab of butter for making fried rice – it tastes WAY better than any oil you could use. It also makes the rice brown beautifully.
• Let the rice brown a bit on the bottom.If you like your rice a bit crispy, let it rest for a bit in between stirs so that it can brown a bit on the bottom.
• Don’t skip the Yum Yum Sauce. No Chicken Hibachi meal is complete without because it’s phenomenally YUMMY!It marries all of the ingredients and textures together and will be sorely missed if you skip it.

How Do You Make Hibachi Chicken Tender?

This Chicken Hibachi recipe is not only unabashedly flavorful, but the chicken is wonderfully silky and juicy due to a simple restaurant secret called velveting. Essentially, the chicken is marinated in a combination of baking soda, soy sauce, rice wine, and cornstarch. Here’s how it works:

• Baking soda: This breaks down the fibers, tenderizing the chicken, so it emerges softer on the inside, like “velvet.” . Don’t worry, you won’t taste the baking soda but you will taste the textural difference!
• Soy sauce: The salt in the soy sauce also helps break down the proteins for a more tender texture and infuses the chicken with flavor.
• Rice wine: This breaks down the lean muscle fibers on the surface of the protein.
• Cornstarch: This acts as a binder and helps the soy sauce bind to the chicken for more flavorful chicken. Cornstarch also provides a light coating that helps protect the chicken from drying out while cooking.

Chicken Hibachi Recipe Variations

Make this Hibachi Chicken recipe your own with a different protein, veggies and more!

• Swap protein:Use shrimp, beef or pork. Marinate the protein like you would the chicken.
• Swap veggies: As with any stir-fry, you can use any veggies you’d like in this recipe. Bok choy, broccoli, snow peas, fresh green beans, and more can be used.
• Add-ins: Water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, peanuts, etc. would all be tasty additions.
• Add more oomph: Amp up the garlic and/or ginger for a stronger punch of flavor.
• Spicy Chicken Hibachi: Add 1 tablespoon Asian chili sauce or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
• Make it vegan: Swap the chicken for tofu.Place firm tofu in a pie plate. Top with a heavy plate and weigh it down with 2 heavy cans (to release water). Set aside for 10 minutes, then chop into 1-inch cubes before marinating. Skip the eggs, use vegan butter, and swap the oyster sauce forLee Kum Kee Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce.
• Make it gluten free: Use tamari instead of soy sauce. Use gluten free oyster sauce like Kikkoman brand.
• Make it grain free: Substitute the rice withcauliflower rice.

What goes with Chicken Hibachi

This Hibachi Chicken recipe is a meal in itself, but feel free to stretch it further with appetizers, soup and/or salad:

• ​​Appetizers: For a complete Asian feast, pair your meal with Pineapple Cream Cheese Wontons, Crab Rangoons, Potstickers, and/or Egg Rolls
• Salad: Our favorite Asian-inspired salads include Ramen Salad, Crunchy Asian Salad, Chinese Salad, and Asian Pineapple Salad.
• Soups: Asian soups make a fantastic starter to this recipe. Try Wonton Soup, Egg Drop Soup or Miso Soup.

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