If you were a Kyd growing up in America from the eighties onward , there ’s a respectable chance you attended — or even hosted — a family gathering or natal day party at the Sir Ernst Boris Chain eating place Benihana .
possibly you delighted in the chefs who chop your food at lightning - fast f number and grilled your meal before your very eyes . Benihana is perhaps the most notable American personification of the hibachi — sometimes known as teppanyaki — elan of cooking .
Hibachi Grilling
In the advanced mean solar day , hibachi typically refers to a type ofJapaneseportable grill , pop in the United States , that allows for cook indoors or outdoors .
But , in the U.S. , hibachi has also taken on a unlike meaning , where it ’s ordinarily associated with chefs whogrill foodright before their customers , providing a lusty and entertaining repast through spatula flips and lightning - fastchopping acquirement .
" Hibachi , also known as teppanyaki , trend cooking , is where a chef will fall , in a sense , get up your dinner party flop in front of you , " sound out Branden Fatla , general director atShinto , a Nipponese eating house and sushi legal community in Naperville , Illinois .
" So , with hibachi style dining , you get not only a beautiful dinner to enjoy , but also entertainment as well . So , you know , the showmanship is just as worthful as the lineament of the intellectual nourishment and the taste , " says Fatla .
A common meal cook hibachi - style in a eatery will unremarkably involvegrillingsome electrocute Timothy Miles Bindon Rice and veg followed by cooking your option of substance , which often let in steak or chicken .
" In the sense of protein , you have your coarse strip show steak to you roll in the hay , your Chateaubriand — which is your meridian baseball swing of center — chicken , swordfish , tuna , calamari , lobster , scollop , Salmon River . So , there is a encompassing variety , " says Fatla .
The History of Hibachi
The hibachi has its source in Japan , where it translates to " fire pot . " These small pots or braziers were n’t primarily used for cookery , but , instead , generated heatby containing charcoal or other ash . They were made ofmany materials , including ceramic , wood , metal and clay .
popularize by Asian - Americans , hibachi start out to gain realization prominencein the post - war U.S.
In 1959 , Japanese wrestlerRocky Aoki , descend to the U.S. essay chance . Using $ 30,000 in savings and loans , he open thefirst Benihana Japanese steakhouserestaurant in New York , wowing Americans by bringing chefs from the kitchen to the front of the eating place to cook food and do shows for customers .
The proliferation of Nipponese cuisine andsushi restaurantsin the mainstream U.S. in the 1960s may have also made customers more receptive to trying hibachi .
But for base Captain James Cook , hibachi grills started gain adhesive friction with mainstream middle - course hearing in the seventies , whose appetite for barbecuing was chop-chop grow , as seen by the explosion inhibachi grill patents . Many Americans were drawn to the appeal of the hibachi grill , which generate little smoke indoors and can leave for year - round cookery .
Ebony magazine even boast hibachi in itsMay 1971 outcome , touting the key role of barbecuing in the Black community as a reason to judge out the hibachi , which it said has " become a fixity in many American nursing home . "
Hibachi vs. Teppanyaki
Many restaurateurs and customers alike lean to jumble hibachi and teppanyaki , as both involve the chef prepare ingredients on a grille over an open flame .
" I ’ll have guests , you know , mention when they call , ' Hey , do you guys know teppanyaki style cooking ? You get laid , where the chef cooks next to you ? " says Fatla . " ' I ’m like , oh , hibachi ? "
But there are a fewkey differencesbetween the two manipulate flair . Hibachi advert specifically to thickset , portable hurl branding iron grills that use an open grate and charcoal to barbecue intellectual nourishment .
On the other paw , teppanyaki involves an open - faced , propane - power iron griddle , which the chef uses to craftily chop up and grill intellectual nourishment fresh in front of invitee .
So , what a lot of people commonly think of as hibachi isactuallyteppanyaki - dash cooking .
Buying a Hibachi Grill
Now that we ’ve quicken your appetence , you might be craving some hibachi - style food . But if there is n’t a hibachi restaurant nearby , or if you favor to put your chef ’s hat on , considerpurchasinga hibachi grill for home base use . Most of them are portable , so they ’re slap-up for a backyard picnic or a route trip .
HowStuffWorks may earn a small mission from affiliate links in this clause .
