This Hibachi Fried Rice Recipe delivers all the flavors of your favorite Japanese steak house. Slightly crisped and perfectly seasoned, this recipe is the perfect side dish to pair with Hibachi Steak!
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Easy Hibachi Fried Rice Recipe
My kids were never big fans of fried rice until they tried it at a Japanese steak house. My oldest was the lucky recipient of a piece of scrambled egg flung straight into his mouth, and I had to chuckle at the way his eyes lit up.
Not only was he THRILLED to catch the egg (which I had actually placed in his mouth when he closed his eyes…a bit of “Japanese technology” as our chef called it), but he also LOVED the way it tasted.
I was thrilled to find a new dish our kids love that I could easily make at home. I went home to recreate it, and I’m super excited about the results.
Hibachi fried rice is very similar to other fried rice recipes, but I find it is more heavily seasoned with soy sauce, and it is a bit crispy, a benefit that comes from cooking over a high heat stove top.
Here’s Why You’ll Love It
- Make ahead friendly– This dish can be made in advance and reheated easily on the stove top. The rice itself should always be cooked in advance, making dinner itself a breeze.
- Speedy and flavorful– With the rice already cooked, you can pull this fried rice together in less than 20 minutes.
- Perfect for leftovers– Fried rice is an easy way to get a second meal out of your Asian takeout. If you often have extra containers of white rice, you can easily turn it into a main course the next day. Add extra protein by making Ground Beef Fried Rice.
- Pairs perfectly with other hibachi favorites– If you want a full hibachi feast, you can pair this dish with Hibachi Steak, Hibachi Vegetables, and Yum Yum Sauce.
Ingredients Needed
- Butter– Butter is used generously in hibachi cooking. Here, it’s used to saute the vegetables and to add flavor to the rice.
- Onion– A little chopped onion is a great addition to fried rice. It makes it so flavorful!
- Peas and carrots– Most hibachi restaurants don’t include this in their fried rice recipes, but I love to add some extra veggies wherever I can. The easiest way to do this is to pick up a bag of frozen peas and carrots at the grocery store. No prep work needed!
- Garlic– This is a MUST for hibachi cooking!
- Eggs– I didn’t think my oldest liked eggs until he tried them at a hibachi restaurant and loved them! They’re perfectly seasoned little morsels inside the fried rice.
- Cooked white rice– It is best to use leftover cooked white rice for fried rice (more on that below!). You can learn more about how to cook white rice here.
- Hibachi Sauce– I use a blend of soy sauce, mirin, and honey to season the rice.
- Sesame Oil– Finishing the rice with a drizzle of sesame oil adds a rich, nutty taste.
- Green Onions– They could just be seen as a garnish, but I find green onions are essential for a pop of fresh flavor.
How to Make Hibachi Fried Rice
- Saute onion. In a large heavy duty skillet, melt one tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until starting to soften, about three minutes.
- Add vegetables and garlic. Stir in the frozen vegetables and cook until heated through another few minutes. Stir in the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Scramble eggs. Push the veggie mixture to the side, and crack two eggs into the pan. Use a spatula to scramble the egg and cook, stirring occasionally, and chopping the eggs into smaller pieces, until cooked through.
- Add rice and crisp. Push the eggs to the side, and melt the second tablespoon of butter. Turn the heat up to high and then add the cooked rice. Spread it over the pan and allow it to cook undisturbed for a few minutes. We want to get some crispy bits!
- Stir together. Stir the veggies and egg into the rice, and season everything with salt and pepper.
- Add sauce. Pour the hibachi sauce into the pan and cook, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the sauce is absorbed. Drizzle in the sesame oil and stir until combined.
- Serve the rice with chopped green onions, if desired, and hibachi steak and hibachi veggies on the side.
Tips and FAQs
What type of rice is best for fried rice?
We recommend using white rice that has been previously cooked and cooled, preferably refrigerated overnight. Leftover chilled rice is firmer and drier than freshly cooked rice, which helps the grains separate and crisp to give you the texture of traditional fried rice.
Freshly cooked rice is too moist and is more likely to result in big, mushy clumps.
What makes hibachi so good?
Hibachi style cooking uses high heat, butter, garlic, and simple seasonings to create delicious meals.
One way to ensure you get the taste of hibachi at home is to use a heavy duty pan with a large surface area. We love this stainless steel pan or this cast iron one. Spreading the rice over the surface of the pan and cooking it over high heat for a few minutes will allow it to crisp up just like hibachi rice!
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.
For my hibachi recipes, we use a neutral cooking oil like canola or vegetable oil to sear the food, and a master soy sauce-based hibachi sauce to season it.
Fried rice also benefits from a drizzle of sesame oil at the very end.
Our Master Hibachi Sauce Recipe
I made this simple blend of soy sauce, mirin, and honey or sugar to use on all my hibachi recipes.
The soy sauce is the primary flavor, and gives a punchy umami forward flavor. You can absolutely use tamari for a gluten free option or substitute low sodium soy sauce if you prefer.
Mirin is a sweet and slightly tangy sauce you can find in the Asian food aisle of your local grocery store, or online here.
A little bit of sugar or honey balances the intense savorines of the soy sauce and completes this simple hibachi seasoning sauce! One recipe of the master sauce will make enough for this fried rice, hibachi steak, and hibachi veggies.
If you’re not making our other hibachi recipes, you can simply substitute ¼ cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of mirin, and 1 tablespoon of honey.
What to Serve with Fried Rice
Fried rice is a compliment to many Asian dishes and would be the perfect side dish for Honey Soy Salmon or Asian Marinated Chicken. It’s also great with Slow Cooker Asian Sesame Beef, Sticky Asian Meatballs, and Thai Basil Beef.
If you want to add more veggies, try this quick Spicy Asian Zucchini.
Hibachi Fried RIce
Yield: 4-6
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
This easy Hibachi Fried Rice is perfectly seasoned and a bit crispy. It tastes just like the rice you get at a Japanese steak house!
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- ½ medium yellow onion, diced
- ¾ cup frozen peas and carrots
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups cooked and cooled white rice
- Salt and pepper
- ⅓ cup hibachi master sauce *See note
- 1/2-1 Tablespoon sesame oil, to taste
- Chopped green onions, optional
Instructions
- In a large heavy duty skillet, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until starting to soften, about three minutes.
- Stir in the frozen vegetables and cook until heated through, another few minutes. Stir in the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Push the veggie mixture to the side, and crack two eggs into the pan. Use a spatula to scramble the egg and cook, stirring occasionally, chopping them into smaller pieces, until mostly set.
- Push the eggs to the side, and melt the remaining butter. Turn the heat up to high and then add the cooked rice. Spread it over the pan and allow it to cook undisturbed for a few minutes. We want to get some crispy bits!
- Stir the veggies and egg into the rice, and season everything lightly with salt and pepper. The soy sauce will add quite a bit of salt, so you don't need a lot of extra.
- Pour the hibachi sauce into the pan and cook, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the sauce is absorbed. Drizzle in the sesame oil and stir until combined.
- Serve the rice with chopped green onions, if desired, and hibachi steak and veggies on the side.
Notes
Our master hibachi sauce recipe can be found here: Hibachi Steak Recipe. It will make enough sauce for the rice, steak, and veggies. If you're just preparing the rice, you can make a small batch of the hibachi sauce with 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon mirin, and 1 Tablespoon honey.
Soy sauce can be subbed for tamari for a gluten free option.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 304Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 183mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 7g
Please note nutritional information for my recipes is calculated by a third party service and provided as a courtesy to my readers. For the most accurate calculation, I always recommend running the numbers yourself with the specific products you use.
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