This Hibachi Style Fried Rice is the perfect restaurant version that can be made at home with few ingredients. Simple, filling, and delicious. Try making it home to share with your family.
Going to a Japanese steakhouse or hibachi restaurant has always been fun for me.
I mean what is there not to love about this casual dining experience. You get to join a group of friends or strangers around a piping hot flat top grill with a chef to prepare your meal in front of you. If you're lucky you will also get some fake condiment squeezed at you and witness a flaming pile of onion slices skillfully move into a pile of fresh vegetables as a choo choo train.
It is food and entertainment, seriously what is there not to love about it.
While I love going out to the restaurant to get my hibachi fix, I also love making the same dishes in the comfort of my own home. It is not difficult to create the same meal at home especially the hibachi rice.
What is hibachi fried rice?
Hibachi fried rice is a cooking style in which cooked rice is fried in a heated wok or large skillet with butter, soy sauce, and a few other ingredients. It basically takes everything that you know about fried rice and adds butter to it yielding some amazingly savory flavor.
It begins with rice that has been cooked and had time to fully cool. In the restaurant white rice is commonly used, but you can also make it with any kind of rice that you prefer. For this recipe, I am going to use some Instant Pot Brown Rice to save me some time. However, you may also use any leftover takeout rice that you have on hand. The key is to use cooked and cooled rice because it fries up better than freshly cooked hot rice.
What do I use to cook fried rice?
You may use a wok if you have it. For this recipe, I used an inexpensive wok that I purchased years ago on a shopping trip to Ikea. It heats up quickly and is big enough for me to move the ingredients around in the pan without making a big mess. The one that I have is no longer available from Ikea, but there are some that you can check out on their website. I was also able to find one on Amazon that is similar to the one that I have.
If you do not have a wok, then no worries as you can also use a large skillet or even a 12-inch cast iron skillet.
What ingredients for hibachi rice?
- Butter
- Eggs
- Onion
- Cooked rice
- Soy sauce
- Toasted sesame oil
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
How to make Hibachi Fried Rice:
Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs, salt, and ground black pepper. Add a tablespoon of butter into the heated wok or skillet. Once the butter melts, add in the beaten eggs and scramble until they are no longer runny but still a soft scramble.
Carefully remove the cooked eggs from the skillet or wok back into the small bowl, set aside.
Add in another tablespoon of butter into the heated wok or skillet. Once the butter melts, add in the chopped onion and move around in the pan until the onion is lightly coated with the butter. Allow the onion to cook until it becomes translucent.
Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into the wok or skillet with the cooked onion. Once it melts add in the cooked rice.
Add in the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil with the rice. Stir the rice frequently, breaking it up as needed. Once the fried rice has been heated thoroughly and has lightly browned, add in the egg and stir to evenly distribute.
Serve warm with some yum yum sauce.
Recipe
Hibachi Style Fried Rice
Equipment
- Wok or Large Skillet
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 large eggs
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 4 cups cooked and cooled rice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Instructions
- Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat.
- In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs, salt, and ground black pepper.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter into the heated wok or skillet. Once the butter melts, add in the eggs and scramble until they are no longer runny but still a soft scramble. Carefully remove the cooked eggs from the skillet or wok back into the small bowl. Set aside.
- Add in another 1 tablespoon of butter into the heated wok or skillet. Once the butter melts, add in the chopped onion and move around in the pan until the onion is lightly coated with the butter. Allow the onion to continue to cook until it becomes translucent.
- Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into the wok or skillet along with the cooked onion. Once it melts add in the cooked rice.
- Add in the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil with the rice. Stir the rice frequently, breaking it up as needed. Once the fried rice has been heated thoroughly and has also lightly browned, add in the egg and stir to evenly distribute.
- Serve warm with some yum yum sauce and store any leftover in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
Want some recipes to use this Japanese Hibachi Fried Rice with? Try these:
Have any comments, questions, or other delicious ways to use this Hibachi Fried Rice Recipe? Please share them in the comments below!
Aleta
Ooooo I love the use of butter rather than oil, this Hibachi Fried Rice is a great way to to make your own at home! I am always looking for asian style dishes to add to my meal plan, looks like I scored here!
LaKita
Thank you! Butter makes all the difference 🙂
Bernice Hill
YUM! I could eat rice every day and I often do make extra rice so I can make fried rice. I've never heard it called hibachi style before but it looks very similar to what I make.
LaKita
Thank you! I'm sure it is very similar to what you make! I love making extra rice for the same reason.
Marwin Brown
Recipe looks delicious! I've always wanted to buy a wok, but never pulled the trigger out a fear I wouldn't get much use from it. Do you have many other uses for it?
LaKita
Thank you! I primarily use it for stir-fry dishes, but it heats up quickly and makes cooking so much faster. Plus my wok was less than $20 from Ikea.
Colleen
This rice looks like a yummy side dish. I can't wait to try it soon!
LaKita
Thank you Colleen! Hope you enjoy it if you do give it a try!
David
Tasty idea for cooked rice! I often have extra on hand, in fact tonight I might have extra after making a batch to go with chicken curry. Haven't really been to a hibachi restaurant, sounds like fun.
LaKita
Thank you David! This recipe works really well with leftover rice.
Paige
This looks and sounds amazing...I've never made it before, and I'm going to try it with some chicken kebobs...looks really moist, too.
Femi. O
I've tried so many versions of fried rice and I'm also a fan of hibachi restaurants so I'm glad I can add this to that list! Can I also mention that your images are amazing? Thanks for sharing!
LaKita
Thank you so much Femi!!
LaKita
Thank you Paige! This rice will go perfect with chicken kebobs!
Sara
I LOVE fried rice, and this version sounds incredible! We have some leftover rotisserie chicken that I can’t wait to toss into it, too! This is a perfect recipe to keep on hand over the next couple of weeks, too!
LaKita
Thank you Sara! I certainly agree, it easy and great way to use rice. Adding in some rotisserie chicken sounds amazing!
Daniela
Looks like some very delicious and comforting rice! And I love how ya shared all the in-process shots :).
LaKita
Thank you so much Daniela!
Lovisa
My son has been asking for Hibachi style fried rice ever since the quarantine started and asked me to try this. It was so easy and delicious and the taste is spot on!
LaKita
Glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe Lovisa!!
Lara
So simple and flavorful! We had frozen edamame and peas that we added. This will be my go-to way to use up leftover rice!
LaKita
Thank you Lara!
Silverly
Wow!!!! I absolutely LOVED this recipe!!! I love to cook and try new recipes and typically I follow a new recipe to the letter and then I have to add my own touch, BUT....not this time!!! This recipe is wonderful EXACTLY as written!!! Thank you for sharing Lakita!!!
LaKita
Thank you!! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. It is definitely one of my favorites.