All your favorite flavors of hibachi in one pan. Our Japanese steakhouse style fried rice is absolutely delicious, especially drizzled in our homemade yum yum sauce! Make it with steak, chicken or shrimp---the process is the same!
You might also like our homemade egg rolls and chicken chow mien recipe.
Watch our step by step video!
Japanese Steakhouse Style Fried Rice
Our favorite restaurant when we lived in Columbus, Ohio was Genji. Genji Japanese Steakhouse was similar to other hibachi style restaurants, complete with an entertaining chef, onion volcanos, and a variety of delicious combinations of meat and rice.
Yum Yum Sauce
I loved ordering the steak or chicken, and an extra helping of fried rice. And let's talk about that yum yum sauce for a second. You simply can't eat fried rice without it! Yum yum sauce is a combination of mayonnaise, sugar, tomato paste (or ketchup), garlic powder, paprika and butter. The key is making it in advance and letting the flavors meld for 8 hours. You can dip meat into it or drizzle it over salad, but our favorite way to eat it is with fried rice.
I knew that we had to recreate that delicious rice at home and it quickly became a family favorite. We've been making this steakhouse style fried rice for over 10 years! Always making it with yum yum sauce, and switching up the meats that we include. Our Japanese steakhouse style fried rice combines the flavors of a hibachi prepared meal, in one pan.
Hibachi/Japanese Steakhouse Ingredients
- onions
- zucchini
- eggs
- steak
- chicken
- shrimp
- mushrooms
- broccoli and carrots (I use these even thought they aren't traditional)
Choose your favorites then use our directions for frying them up with rice in a large pan. I'd definitely recommend not skipping the onions, even if you aren't a huge onion fan. They are so delicious, caramelized and brown, and add a ton of flavor. You won't ever find me using mushrooms in mine, but I won't judge anyone who does, haha. Sometimes I'll add eggs to scramble, but I don't find that they add a lot of flavor.
Note: I hardly ever measure everything out. I just use what I have on hand and season everything to taste. I did take the time to finally make some measurements for this recipe, but you can just use them as a guide if you'd like to use a different combination of meat and vegetables.
Tips for Cooking Steakhouse Style Fried Rice
- HIGH HEAT
- Small batches
- Don't over season
Cook on HIGH HEAT
If you have a wok and know how to cook with it, that is ideal. I use a large skillet over high heat. You might be tempted to drop the heat to medium, but don't do that if you want that nice golden texture on your meat and veggies. My pan is rated for med-high to high so it does just fine.
Small Batches
Vegetables
Just like hibachi, we'll start out cooking the vegetables. Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a HOT pan. Cook the onions first, then add zucchini and matchstick carrots. Once they've had a chance to get golden and cooked remove them from the pan and set them aside. Then add more oil to the pan and cook any other vegetables you'd like. Cook veggies in small batches so that they brown while cooking instead of steaming and getting soggy. Add a small amount of soy sauce before removing from heat.
Meat
When cooking your meat, (whether it is chopped up pieces of steak, chicken, or shrimp) working in a single layer is key. Make sure you've patted the meat with paper towels so that it is dry (especially chicken and shrimp which tends to release more water when cooked).
Add a tablespoon or two of oil to your HOT pan then add meat in a single layer, making sure the meat isn't crowded.
Cook for a minute or two to allow the meat to become golden brown, then toss the meat and stir until it cooks through. Add a small amount of soy sauce before removing from heat.
Rice
Once your vegetables and meat is done, fry the rice in a small amount of oil and butter for a minute or two. Then add the veggies and meat into the pan, toss in soy sauce and you're ready to eat!
Don't Over Season the Fried Rice
You can season the meat with a small amount of salt and pepper if you'd like, but all you need as far as sauces go is soy sauce (regular, not low-sodium).
I splash each batch with a tablespoon or two of soy sauce before removing them from the pan. After the rice has been fried I'll add everything back into the pan and add about ¼- ⅓ cup of soy sauce and mix everything in thoroughly.
Drizzle in yum yum sauce and enjoy! One batch makes 6-8 servings.
Japanese Steakhouse Style Fried Rice Recipe
Japanese Steakhouse Style Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoon oil divided
- 1 onion chopped
- ½ cup carrots chopped or matchstick
- 1 zucchini chopped
- 4 cups broccoli florets chopped
- ½ cup soy sauce divided
- 1 ½ lbs chicken or steak cut into bite sized pieces
- 6-7 cups cooked rice
- 2 tablespoon butter
- yum yum sauce
Instructions
- Heat a large skilled on high heat. Add 2 tablespoon oil. Add onions in a single layer. Cook until brown on one side then stir. Add zucchini and carrots and cook (without stirring) until browned on one side. Toss everything together and stir until vegetables are tender. Add a tablespoon or two of soy sauce then remove onions and vegetagles from heat and transfer to a platter.
- Place skillet back on stove on high heat. Add 2 tablespoon oil. Add broccoli in a single layer. Once it starts to brown, toss and cook until tender. Add 1 Tbsp. soy sauce, stir, then remove from heat and transfer to the platter.
- Place skillet back on stove on high heat. Add 2 Tbsp. oil. Add chicken or steak in a single layer (may need to cook in two batches). Don't stir meat until one side is brown. Then stir and cook until meat is done. Add 1-2 tablespoon soy sauce, toss, then remove from heat and transfer to the platter with the vegetables.
- Add 2 tablespoon oil and butter to the skillet on high heat. Add rice. Cook and stir for a minute or two. Add vegetables and meat. Drizzle in ¼ cup soy sauce (add more 1 Tbsp. at a time, if desired). Stir and serve.
Jen Nowicki says
Thanks!! Love this!!