Benihana Garlic Butter Recipe

Garlic and butter are the two frequently used ingredients – and beloved – around the globe. It’s because they possess such brilliant flavors that they’re added to many dishes of different cultures, sometimes they’re added separately in the same dish, or one can be used more than the other.

The pleasant potency of the garlic flavors, mixed with the silky butter create wonderful meals that are enjoyed by many – including myself. And if you’re a particular fan of benihana garlic butter, or hibachi garlic butter you’re probably how to make them – patience, all will be revealed.

Table of Contents

• What Is Benihana?
• What Is Hibachi?
• Hibachi Garlic Butter
• How To Use Benihana Garlic Butter?
• Which Butter To Use For Benihana?
• Preparing The Garlic
• Other Things to Add?
• How To Make Benihana Garlic Butter?
  • Ingredients
  • Method
• Benihana Chicken Fried Rice
  • Ingredients
  • Method
• Garlic Butter Vegetable Stir Fry – Hibachi
  • Ingredients
  • Method
• Other Hibachi Recipes
  • Hibachi Noodles
  • Hibachi Steak
  • Hibachi Shrimp
• Spread The Word
• FAQs

What Is Benihana?

For those of you who have no clue about Benihana, it is a teppanyaki Japanese restaurant chain in America, and this special sauce they have created is a major delight. Benihana has become known for its unique teppanyaki cooking style, which is when the chef prepares the food right in front of you.

A little similar to a bar, you can watch the chef’s do little tricks with your food, twirling it on their large knives, tossing, mixing and slicing dramatically.

What Is Hibachi?

The hibachi fire bowl is a traditional heating device, it’s a brazier and can be rounded, cylindrical or box-shaped an open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material. It is designed to hold burning charcoal, this device is used for heating and not for cooking.

You can heat shrimp, vegetables, noodles, rice and more! Hibachi is also referred to a large table-like grill made from cast iron heated by traditional charcoal, but mostly with electricity.

Hibachi Garlic Butter

A delicacy that adds undeniably wonderful flavors to a meal. It can be used in any dish you desire including sauces, steaks, chicken, and much more. You can even spread it on some bread for a quick snack and let the garlicky, buttery magic explode in your mouth. Hibachi garlic butter refers to a stir fry made with benihana garlic butter that can be added to vegetables, rice and more.

How To Use Benihana Garlic Butter?

Benihana is something you can use for many dishes, you can serve it with pork fried rice, can pair wonderfully with cooked vegetables, or you can throw it on chicken. A little bit of garlic butter has the power to transform any meal or snack in a nanosecond, turning it into a tasty treat, that’ll have you licking your fingers furiously.

Which Butter To Use For Benihana?

Plain, unsalted butter is all you’ll need for this recipe, for this recipe we’re going to use whipped butter. Don’t panic if you find that you don’t have whipped butter, it is quite easy to make. To make whipped butter all you need to do is bring your butter to a room temperature and add 3 tablespoons of room temperature milk. Then beat it with an electric mixer.

There you have it! You’ve made whipped butter, and it’ll taste the same as any pre-packed whipped butter. Unsalted butter in this recipe is important, because you’ll also be using soy sauce, which is salty as it is and had you used salted butter it would’ve been overpowering. But if you’re a little inclined to the salty taste, then you can always add a sprinkle of salt to adjust the seasoning.

Preparing The Garlic

The secret ingredient to this recipe is the garlic – specifically, delicious roasted garlic that is mushed into a paste. There are many ways to roast your garlic, you can even use a plain old muffin tin, to hold the garlic bulbs in place.

First cut the garlic bulb top and place the garlic into a muffin tin. Drizzle the garlic with olive oil and cover with pieces of aluminum foil. If you leave the garlic uncovered it could burn and you’ll be left with a bad taste.

Second, roast the garlic for 30 minutes at 350 ° F. Then let the garlic cool and separate it into cloves. Squeeze each clove into a bowl.

Once each garlic clove has been squeezed into the bowl, start to mash it with a mortar and pestle or a fork. You can even puree the garlic in a food blender, the choice is yours. But if you want your garlic butter to be smooth with no clumps, then blending the garlic is a better option.

Other Things to Add?

If you desire an incredible umami flavor, you can drizzle a few drops of lemon juice, which will give the garlic butter a nice balance making it perfect to be coupled with seafood. Be careful with the lemon juice, you don’t want to add too much and overpower the garlic butter which will not allow you to achieve the desired results.

How To Make Benihana Garlic Butter?

Now that we’ve covered the type of butter we need and what is to be done with our lovely garlic bulbs we can jump to the fun part!

Ingredients

• 8 ounce of whipped butter (unsalted)
• Soy sauce – 2 oz
• 5 bulbs of roasted garlic
• lemon juice

Method

1. Start by assembling the ingredients and equipment that you’ll need for this recipe. Make sure that your tools are spotless before using them, ensuring that there are no drops of water on them.
2. If you’re planning to use lemon, then clean it and set it aside with the garlic in a dish. If you’ve brought whipped garlic butter from the shop or pulled it out of the fridge, it won’t be at room temperature. which will make it difficult to work with. To make it softer let it rest in the kitchen for about 30 minutes, but if the butter is cold, then you can heat it in the microwave – only for a few seconds. Once the butter has softened at room temperature, you can begin to squeeze the juice out of the lemon and prepare the garlic bulbs.
3. You may prefer large pieces of garlic in your food, others like tiny pieces, and some prefer it reduced to mush using a garlic press. But you can use roasted garlic in this recipe, because let’s be honest, roasted garlic tastes divine. All you need to do is grab five bulbs of garlic and place it in an oven at 350° F for 30 minutes, then take it out and mash it with a fork.
4. Once the garlic bulbs are roasted, cut the tips so that you can peel away the skin easily. Squirt and squeeze them into a container, and continue this process until each garlic clove has left their covering. Start smashing the garlic like they’re mashed potatoes, turning them into a smooth paste.
5. Gingerly add the room temperature whipped butter and combine them with a spatula by folding. This is a process that involves continuously folding the ingredients gently towards the center of the bowl until they are evenly combined. When the color of the mixture is the same throughout, then the consistency is perfect.
6. Add some black pepper, then gradually add the soy sauce, and mix until the soy sauce is well incorporated. You can add the lemon juice now.
7. Once the color and consistency has met your standards, transfer the mixture into a glass container with a lid to seal the flavor. If you don’t intend to use your garlic butter straight away, then store it in the fridge, for up to 3 weeks. If you want your garlic butter to last longer, pop it into an airtight container, refrigerate it for up to a month, or a little longer.

Benihana Chicken Fried Rice

This is a perfect copycat recipe for homemade hibachi, just like the one served at Benihanas Japanese restaurant. It’s super easy to make and incredibly delicious meal at home, with no hidden tricks required, just a lot of garlic butter. Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp safflower oil
• 8 oz chicken thighs
• 2 cups rice (cooked and cold)
• 2 tbsp Benihana garlic butter
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup green onions (sliced)
• 1/4 cup onion (diced)
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp green onions

Method

1. Break the cold rice using a fork. Set it aside then cut the veggies, setting them aside once that’s done as well.
2. Using a wok or a skillet, heat the safflower oil over medium heat, cook the chicken and stir it occasionally until its a light brown, firm and opaque all over.
3. Season with salt and pepper, continue to stir and add 2 tbsp of Benihana garlic butter and stir to coat the chicken.
4. Push the chicken to the side and add green onions, onions and carrots then stir until they’ve softened. Scramble the eggs, seasoning them with salt and pepper, then stir and combine everything together.
5. Add the cold rice, season with a drizzle of oyster sauce, fish sauce. Keep stirring until the rice is a lovely warm brown.
6. Serve piping hot and top it with green onions and sesame seeds.

Garlic Butter Vegetable Stir Fry – Hibachi

Inspired by hibachi restaurants try an easy, delicious garlic butter stir fry that is made by including courgette, onions, and mushrooms sautéed in garlic butter then cooked to perfected tenderness. It’s a fun way to encourage kids to eat vegetables, especially if they’re familiar with the beautiful chaos at hibachi restaurants.

Since they cook in front of you, its not hard to figure out the way they make this delightful dish. So let’s get right into it:

Ingredients

• 2 whole courgette
• 1/2 whole yellow/brown onion
• 1/2 cup sliced common mushrooms (4 or 5)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp high temperature neutral cooking oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp toasted sesame seed

Method

1. Start by gathering all your ingredients
2. Slice the onions, mushrooms, and courgette, then set them aside once done.
3. Grate the garlic with a grater and set it aside
4. Place the butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave until the butter has melted (20 seconds). <ox om the grated garlic with the melted butter and set it aside.
5. In a pan add cooking oil, and bring the temperature up to a high heat. Then add sliced onions and cook for about 30 seconds or until the onions are fragrant.
6. Add the sliced courgette and cook for an additional minute until they’re slightly soft. Next add in sliced mushrooms, sprinkle salt and black pepper and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until the courgette are tender to your liking.
7. Once the vegetables become tender, add in the garlic butter and cook until the garlic butter is completely mixed in. Transfer this to a serving plate, sprinkle some sesame seeds over it, and enjoy!

Other Hibachi Recipes

There’s something about hibachi restaurants that is quite addicting, the food is always incredible and filled with flavors that dance around your mouth, and its kind of riveting watching the chef cook in front of you; tossing his tools and the food that will soon make its way into your mouth – somehow.

If you’re craving some hibachi food then the good news is you can make all your favorite hibachi food at home.

Although it’s nice to eat your favorite foods from your favorite restaurant as often as you like, curiosity eats at your brain, whilst you wonder how does it all taste so good? Don’t fret you can try to make any dish you like, and I’ll help! Let’s make:

• Hibachi Noodles
• Hibachi Steak
• Hibachi Shrimp

Hibachi Noodles

For a creamy Asian inspired noodle dish, this is the hibachi recipe you’ll need. The secret to addictive noodles is the butter. Smothered in butter, noodles are silky smooth, as you slurp on them revelling in their velvety texture, and aromatic flavors, a dish that keeps on giving. Some butter and then garlic, with noodles that appear to be the close relative of linguine.

Adding sugar, and salt to balance the flavors, letting sweet and briny slip in to the meal, so that they can pop up randomly whilst you’re happily chewing. Let’s see what ingredients you’ll need:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound linguine or noodles/pasta of your choice, cooked al dente
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Method

1. Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a wok or skillet
2. Toss in the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant
3. Toss in the noodles or pasta and stir to mix
4. Add sugar, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and toss to combine
5. Season with salt and pepper
6. Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil
7. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve with hibachi steak, vegetables, rice or grilled shrimp.

Hibachi Steak

Hibachi buttery sirloin steak made by coating it in a rich Asian sauce, dripping with deliciousness that only takes 10 minutes to make. You can pair this dish with your favorite hibachi noodles, or hibachi stir-fry vegetables. Delicious bite-sized steaks, infused with a pleasant creamy, buttery taste, mingling with a soy teriyaki base, that you’ll find in most hibachi restaurants.

Use boneless steak like sirloin or fillet and cut into 1 inch bite-sized pieces. For medium rare cook the steak for 2 minutes, for medium cook for 3 minutes, and for well done cook for 4 to 5 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless steak like sirloin or fillet, cut into bite-sized pieces.
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce/mirin
• Pepper

1. Combine soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and pepper, in a small bowl, then set it aside
2. Over medium-high heat, melt the butter and toss in the garlic. Sauté until you can smell the garlic this should take about half a minute.
3. Add in the steak bites and toss to coat it in the garlic buttery sauce
4. Pour in the sauce you made at the start and toss to coat the meat thoroughly
5. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes until the sauce has been cooked down and the beef is seared (check out our guide to searing steak).
6. Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil, then dish and serve hot with your favourite hibachi dish.

Hibachi Shrimp

A trip to a hibachi grill will have you ducking involuntarily as you watch bits of shrimp flying, eggs spinning and onion towers aflame. With flavor profiles that linger long after you’ve left the restaurant, its clear how addicting hibachi meals are, which is why we’re going to learn how to make hibachi shrimp.

To make hibachi shrimp you will need raw, deveined shrimp that is thawed to room temperature. It is important that the shrimp is patted dry before being placed on the heat source to get that nice hibachi style sizzle.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 medium courgette cut into long thin wedges
• 1 small sliced onion
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce
• 12 ounces shrimp thawed and deveined
• 1/2 fresh lemon

Method

1. Preheat a griddle to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in the griddle and add the courgette and onions.
3. Sauté for 3 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Add soy sauce and continue cooking for 3 more minutes until tender. Remove from the griddle or push it to the side.
5. Add two more tablespoons of olive oil to the griddle and add the shrimp.
6. Sauté for one minute then add another teaspoon of garlic, soy sauce, and a squirt of lemon juice. Cook until the shrimp is opaque.
7. Serve with your favorite hibachi rice for some finger licking satisfaction.

Spread The Word

Benihana garlic butter can be eaten with anything you like, with lots of recipes that link to this much loved Japanese sauce, its versatility is greatly appreciated.

Without forgetting hibachi and the great skills displayed by the chefs who like to play with your food before serving it, perhaps you don’t throw your shrimp in the air and then serve it, but it isn’t nearly as unlikely to create delicious benihana and hibachi meals of your own!

FAQs