My husband, Michael, and I discovered our local Hibachi joint years ago when the cousins came to town. The kids were little and didn’t fully anticipate the knife throwing and flames, so when our firstborn, Francesca (who is not a thrill seeker) initially saw the hibachi table fire, there was a look of terror in her eyes. First, she shifted back in her chair, but soon she relaxed and decided to enjoy the experience … and, thanks to the distraction of her cousins, try something new.
When the first piece of juicy, garlicky, gingery, soy saucy, buttery steak flew onto her plate for her to taste, we knew we had a new meal to add to the repertoire.
Despite the enjoyment of the hibachi cook squirting cheap sake into the adults’ mouths and chanting “More Sake … More bikini …. More Lady Gaga…” or singing Happy Birthday with a laser light show and everybody staring, sometimes, when we are feeling a little more introverted, we choose the quiet booth. We have even figured out how to make this deliciousness at home.
First, that salad dressing! The carrot ginger dressing is what got our son Nicholas to love salad in the first place. One time I had the nerve to ask our waiter what was in it, and I think he was messing with me because he told us there were banana, melon and a few other fruits in it.
“No carrot or ginger?” I asked, and he looked at me deadpan and said, “Definitely not.”
After a few tweaks, I think I created something that hits the mark and my family all approves. It’s pretty simple and you just blend it up until super smooth. It keeps for a while in the fridge because there is no dairy in it. You can serve with whatever salad you love, we just keep it simple with romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, cucumbers, thin sliced red onion and avocado. It is really good mixed into rice — or anything for that matter.
3-4 medium carrots peeled and coarsely chopped
⅓ cup fresh peeled ginger
¼ cup of sweet onion
¼ rice vinegar
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
½ cup canola or vegetable oil
¼ water
¼ teaspoon salt
Blend in food processor or high powered blender until very smooth.
For the steak: always prep accordingly to the cut. I prefer skirt steak, but is quite expensive, so often I prep a hanger steak and tenderize with a meat mallet and then salt and pepper rub. To create a delicious marinade mix:
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
⅓ cup of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of mirin wine
Mix all together and let the tenderized steak soak in the marinade for a minimum of 10 minutes. (Longer is better, but sometimes we don’t have the time.)
Hangar steak is thicker, so on a grill (preferred) have it sizzling hot and cook 4 minutes on each side covered. Let the steak rest for 10 minutes then slice with a sharp knife into strips when ready to serve.
As we are a family of differing tastes, I prep rice and noodles. After all, we are emulating a restaurant. I make simple basmati rice. I like to add a little butter. And speaking of butter, have you seen how much butter the hibachi cooks use?
For the noodles, you can use Japanese noodles, however, we use regular spaghetti. Boil in water as you normal and after draining add butter and set aside.
Have vegetables prepped:
Onion, roughly cut (no flaming onion tower here yet, but I’m willing to try!)
White mushrooms cleaned and cut into ¼-inch slices.
Broccoli florets
Zucchini cut into ¼-inch slices.
Minced garlic (just have a container of it ready!)
In a large skillet, add butter and cook onions until clear add mushrooms and cook down add zucchini and broccoli last so as not to overcook them. Aim for crunchy — not soggy! Add dashes of soy sauce and mirin wine. Remove from pan into a bowl.
Add more butter to the skillet. Then add the cooked noodles and warm with butter, soy sauce and some garlic. You can add the vegetables back in and cook it all together or serve as-is, with the steak.
Hopefully, you’ll have leftovers. Which taste just as good the next day — much like take out!
Robin Tesoro co-founded the marinara sauce company Ooma Tesoro’s with her husband and serves as the Creative Director. She’s a mother of two and a modern art painter in her free time.