The Hawkins Family: Easy Hibachi Dinner Night

My family loves Japanese Hibachi! We love to go to Kobe Steakhouse and enjoy the delicious fried rice, shrimp and steak! The thing we do not enjoy is the price! Hibachi can be very pricey for a family of 6. This led to a massive world wide web search to find the best tips, ideas and recipes for Japanese fried rice! Well, after some research, I discovered several good recipes and techniques to achieve the perfect dinner! I was also enlighted to the fact that this is the "American Version of Japanese Food" and not true, authentic Japanese (which I kind of figured!), but none the less... here is what I learned, and let me go ahead and tell you it was A.M.A.Z.I.NG.

Important Tips:

You must cook things in order. First, cook your veggies. Plate and put in oven on warm. Next, cook your meat (not quite done, but just about), then you want to cook your eggs for rice, and last your rice. Then bring it all back together at the end in the pan and finish cooking.

You must use day old rice. It affects your fried rice negatively to use just cooked rice. There is too much moisture and it won't cook right.

You want your skillet very, very hot. Don't add your rice or meat until the skillet is piping hot. You want it to sizzle!

Don't over stir the rice. Because you are using a pan, and not a big industrial grill, you won't have as much heat, so there is no need to stir repeatedly. Let is sit and cook before you stir.

Fried Rice, Shrimp and Veggies:
Ease: *** Taste: *****

4-6 cups of leftover cooked rice
3 eggs
1-2 zuccini chopped
1-2 squash chopped
35-40 raw, peeled, tail off shrimp
olive oil
sesame seed oil (available in the ethnic food section)
soy sauce
coarse kosher salt

Cook the veggies first. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to pan. Heat up pan to med-high on stove. Add sliced veggies and some salt. Add in a splash of sesame seed oil and of soy sauce. Cook for 5-6 mins until veggies are tender to your liking. Remove veggies and place in oven on warm. Heat your skillet back up with another tablespoon of olive oil. Add your shrimp. Add salt, pepper, a splash of soy sauce and a splash of sesame seed oil. (I used about a teaspoon of each for the splash). Cook for 3-5 mins until just about done. Remove from pan, and place in oven to keep warm. Return skillet to heat, add 3 eggs. Allow eggs to cook. When the eggs are fried, chop them up with your spatula. When eggs are done, place on a plate and keep warm in the oven. Last, you want to cook your rice. Add another splash of olive oil, and get pan nice and hot. You want to cook the rice on med-high. Be patient. Make sure you give the rice time to fry before you flip it over. I put a lot of rice in my skillet at once. It took about 10-12 mins to get it cooked. After rice is fried to your liking, add 1-2 teaspoons of sesame seed oil and of the soy sauce. Add salt if needed. Mix in the oil and soy sauce well. Taste to see if you need more. I had to add a little soy sauce to mine. You want to get your rice a brown color. When its done, add in your fried eggs and stir. You can now add your veggies and shrimp in as well (or keep them separate). And if you have not figured it out yet, we are an onion free family! So, please feel free to add onions to your veggies as well!