Copycat Benihana Hibachi Chicken

Eveyone loves going to Benihana's for the scrumptious food. Now you can make your own Benihana Hibachi Chicken dish at home!

Copycat Benihana Hibachi Chicken 

I've always loved going to Benihana's.  The excellent food, the saki, and the show, make for such a fun night in my book.  While I can't re-create the show they put on I can make some of their dishes.  Let's start out with their Hibachi Chicken dish with all the trimmings.

Bites of chicken cooked in an amazing sauce is the star of the show.  But let's not forget about the side dish of sauteed carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, and onion.  The are a so easy to make and are the perfect side dish to the chicken.  Add in some fried rice and a mustard sauce and you have a whole meal that mirrors the one from Benihana.

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• chicken breasts
• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• hoisin sauce
• garlic cloves
• fresh ginger
• rice vinegar
• dijon mustard
• mayo
• carrots
• mushrooms
• yellow onion
• zucchini
• Fried or steamed rice - homemade or frozen (I used frozen fried rice for ease of making the dish)

Substitutions and Variations

• Try making this with steak bites for Habachi Steak.  I would use a sirloin steak for this dish.

• Add yellow squash to the vegetables.

• Switch up the vegetables.  Don't like mushrooms, leave them out or add in broccoli.

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• Do your prep work first.  Cut all the chicken and vegetables so they are ready to go.  Make your sauce for the chicken and the mustard sauce before you start cooking.

• Take a little help from the grocery store and buy frozen fried rice or steamed rice.  This will cut down on cooking time considerably.

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Copycat Benihana Hibachi Chicken 

serves 4

Hibachi chicken

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh minced ginger

Mustard sauce

• 1/2 cup light mayo
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

Sauteed vegetables

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced in half
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, plus salt & pepper to taste
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Fried or steamed rice (optional)

In a small bowl stir together the mustard sauce ingredients and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the sauce ingredients for hibachi chicken.  Add chicken and toss to coat.   Cook chicken with sauce in a large skillet over med-high heat for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally until fully cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. 

Add olive oil to the skillet to heat.  Once the oil has heated add the vegetables and season with salt & pepper and soy sauce, cooking for 5 minutes or so until veggies are tender-crisp. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat the fried rice if using.  

Serve chicken, rice and vegetables with mustard sauce on the side.

Summer Fresh Recipe Series: Shirazi Salad

Shirazi Salad is a simple everyday Persian salad that is filled with fresh, crunchy ingredients that bursts with flavor.  The six ingredient salad perfect summer!

Shirazi Salad

If you are following the Mediterranean diet or like Middle Eastern, or Persian food then this is a great salad for you.  It calls for only 6 ingredients to make!

Use the best summer tomatoes you can find.  I like Roma tomatoes, which I core and seed.  Persian cucumbers are short thin, and seedless, plus they have a thin skin so they don't need peeling.  They are great to snack on and have a fresh flavor.  If you can't find these then English or hothouse cucumbers would be your next choice.  Use red onion, fresh mint, and some lemon juice if you like to provide a little acid.  Everything should be diced really fine.  To cut down on my knife work I used my Mueller Multi Chopper.  It was perfect for the job, making a fine dice of all the veggies that was done in minutes!


Try this simple salad today.  It will be one that you will make on repeat all summer!


Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• Persian cucumbers - English cucumber (or hothouse) will work as well

• Ripe Tomatoes - I love Roma, but any fresh tomatoes will work.  You will need to core and see them as you don't want any of the extra juice.

• Red onion

• Fresh Mint

• Lemon - for juicing

• Olive oil

Substitutions and Variations

• Leave out the mint if you don't care for it. Or use dried mint.

• Use your favorite type of tomato, even cherry tomatoes would be fun.  Just keep everything chopped around the same size.

• You want a cucumber that doesn't have seeds.  English and Perisan are great since you don't have to peel them.  If all you can find are regular cucumbers, make sure to peel and seed them on the inside.  You don't want the extra juices from the seed pulp in your salad.

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• It's best to add the olive oil to each serving.  If you toss it over the entire salad then any leftovers will get pretty soggy.

• Use a really good olive oil, with a good flavor.

• I love my Mueller Multi Chopper!  I made this salad in about 10 minutes using this chopper.  Saved me a lot of time and a lot of knife work.
• Leftovers should be placed in a sealed container and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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Shirazi Salad

serves 4

4 Persian cucumbers or 1 English cucumber
4 Roma tomatoes, cored and seeded
1/2 small red onion
1 lemon
olive oil
10-12 leaves of mint, chopped
kosher salt & black pepper to taste

Finely chop the cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onion in to a small dice and place together in a medium bowl.  Add the fresh mint and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the salad tossing the ingredients.

Add servings to individual dishes and bowls and douse with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Serve at room temperature.  

Summer Fresh Recipe Series: Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad

 A bold Southwestern flavored salad filled with grilled chicken and fresh summer produce and doused with a lime garlic vinaigrette.

Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad

Today we talking about main course salads which are salads that include vegetables and protein and are hearty and satisfying enough on it's own to be the main course.  My Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad is bursting with bold flavors from the chili lime seasoned grilled chicken and Latin inspired dressing.  It also has a ton of seasonal produce such as fresh corn right from the cob, ripe summer tomatoes, refreshing cucumbers, buttery avocados, and crisp lettuce.  This is all topped with some shredded cheddar cheese and doused with a Latin inspired lime garlic dressing.  So flavorful it's a party in your mouth!

This recipe is an easy weeknight or weekend meal.  Perfect for taking to a picnic or eating alfresco on the patio or deck.  The bold flavor make this dish so tasty that my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  The perfect meal for a hot summer evening.

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• chicken cutlets - store bought thin sliced chicken breasts or take a regular chicken breast and cut it in half horizontally to make cutlets

• chili lime seasoning ( I used Trader Joe's) but any brand will do

• olive oil

• limes

• green leaf lettuce

• avocado

• English cucumber

• cheddar cheese

• Roma tomatoes

• corn on the cob

• garlic cloves

Substitutions and Variations

• Use your favorite lettuce, butter, red leaf, or romaine would taste great

• Add cilantro as an herb to the salad

• Use different tomatoes such as cherry or grape tomatoes

• Season the chicken with taco seasoning or  Mexican oregano along with the marinade

• Use lemons instead of limes

• Cotija cheese would be wonderful instead of the cheddar

• Add black beans to the salad 

Kitchen Tips and Equipment

• I use the Chili lime seasoning from Trader Joe's.  It has really great flavor

• Mixing Bowls:  I love these White Rhino mixing bowls with lids to use as a salad bowls.   I also love my wooden bowl for salads.  And of course my Italian glass Bormioli bowl is wonderful as well.
• Salad Servers:  Everyone should have a great pair of salad servers to toss and serve salad easily.  I prefer these wood ones.
  

  
  

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Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad

serves 4-6

4 thin chicken cutlets
Chili lime seasoning ( I used Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 limes, divided use
1/2 head large red leaf lettuce, sliced
l large avocado, peeled and sliced
1 large English cucumber, sliced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, grated
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 ears of corn, cooked and kernels sliced off
Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste

Season both sides of the chicken cutlets liberally with Chili lime seasoning (Trader Joe's).  Place in a ziploc bag.  Add the olive oil and the juice of 1 lime.  Seal and toss chicken in the coating.  Marinate on the counter for 30 minutes while you prepare the salad.

To a large bowl add the sliced lettuce, topping with the tomatoes, cucumber, corn, cheddar cheese.  Place in the refrigerator until serving time.

Preheat your grill to medium high heat.  Grill chicken 4 minutes per side or until done depending on thickness (internal temperature of 160 degrees).  Remove chicken from the grill to a cutting board and allow to rest 10 minutes.

In a small liquid measuring cup add all the dressing ingredients and whisk together.

Cut chicken in to strips or cubes and add to the salad.  Add the sliced avocado to the salad as well.  Drizzle with the dressing and toss and serve.