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Benihana Chicken Fried Rice
The iconic hibachi fried rice made with day-old rice, butter, garlic, soy sauce, and scrambled eggs. The secret is high heat and the right rice texture.
japanese · benihana · fried-rice · chicken
🕑Prep10 min
🍳Cook15 min
⏱Total25 min
🍽Serves4
⭐DifficultyMedium
Ingredients
- 4 cups day-old cooked white rice (cold from the fridge)
- 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced into small pieces
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- 1.Cook the chicken. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add the diced chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes until golden and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
- 2.Scramble the eggs. Push everything to the side and add the beaten eggs. Scramble them quickly until just set, breaking them into small pieces. This takes about 30 seconds on high heat.
- 3.Cook the vegetables. Add another tablespoon of butter and the frozen peas and carrots. Stir-fry for 2 minutes until heated through. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- 4.Fry the rice. Add the remaining butter and the cold rice. Press the rice flat against the pan and let it sit for 30 seconds to get some color, then flip and repeat. The key to Benihana-style fried rice is letting the rice make contact with the hot surface long enough to get slightly crispy.
- 5.Season and combine. Drizzle the soy sauce over the rice and toss everything together — the chicken, eggs, vegetables, and rice. Add the sliced green onions and toss once more. The rice should be golden, slightly crispy in spots, and coated in a thin layer of soy sauce and butter.
Benihana Chicken Fried Rice
Benihana fried rice is the dish everyone remembers from the teppanyaki experience. The chef tosses rice on a blazing hot griddle with butter, garlic, soy sauce, and eggs, and it comes out golden, slightly crispy, and impossibly flavorful. The performance is half the fun, but the rice is the real star.
The secret is not skill with a spatula — it is cold, day-old rice and very high heat. Fresh rice is too wet and steams instead of frying. Cold rice has dried out just enough that it crisps up in the butter and takes on that signature texture.
Why Make It at Home?
A Benihana dinner for two runs $60-80 or more. The fried rice alone — which is a side dish there — would cost about $8. At home, 4 cups of rice, a couple eggs, and some butter cost about $3 total. You can make this as a full meal by adding extra chicken.
Tips & Variations
- Day-old rice is non-negotiable. Cook the rice the day before and refrigerate it uncovered. The surface dries out, which is exactly what you want for frying. Fresh rice turns into a mushy, sticky mess.
- Get the pan screaming hot. This is not a gentle saute. You want the highest heat your stove can produce. The rice should sizzle aggressively when it hits the pan. If it does not, your pan is not hot enough.
- Butter, not oil. Benihana uses butter, and it makes a real difference. The milk solids brown and add a nutty flavor that oil cannot replicate.
- Add sesame oil at the end. A few drops of toasted sesame oil right before serving adds an authentic Asian restaurant aroma.
