Japanese Hibachi Shrimp
Who hasn’t sat around the hibachi table at any of the local Japanese steak houses near you? These places cook delicious food and lots of it so who doesn’t love eating it?! I know my family loves it, but that price can be kind of expensive and sometimes you just don’t want to leave the house to go out to eat. Well, here is a great recipe that is quick and easy and will produce that great hibachi flavor your looking for, but for a whole lot less than the local steak house!
Quick Tips and Variations:
In this recipe you will see that it is centered around shrimp, but feel free to use this on chicken or even steak as the flavors will transfer just fine. One thing l like to do is chop my own veggies so I can get the cut that I like, however, if you want to save yourself some time and energy feel free to look in your local grocery store’s froze veggie aisle, and they should have a stir fry bag of pre-cut vegetables that you can use. If you’re going to be using this bag, ignore the directions for microwaving or steaming. You are going to need some crispness and a bit of browning of the veggies to help flavor the dish. So set your froze bag out and let the veggies thaw a bit before cooking them.
In this recipe I will be using a wok. If you don’t have one you can find them at any store that carries pots and pans, even Walmart sometimes has them. The great thing about a wok is the entire pan gets hot and with its shape it has a lot of cooking surface, and you can cook things hot and fast with it. If you don’t have a wok and aren’t going to be getting one, just use your largest non-stick sauté pan, not a cast iron.
Another note for this dish is the use of peppers. Sriracha is a mixture of many things, but it has lot of peppers in it and can be hot, as well as the use of the crushed red pepper. I like spicy things and the flavors peppers create, so I use a lot of peppers in my cooking, but if you don’t like things spicy feel free to omit these two ingredients from the recipe and I promise you will still enjoy this dish.
When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip!
One of the most important parts of Hibachi is the dips! I know most everyone loves to have the Yum Yum sauce to dip their food in. This sauce was really made famous by the Hibachi restaurants, as you never saw it in store until the last few years and now you can find a plethora of different options. This sauce is a mayonnaise base, and you really have all kinds of options here on heat levels and the ability to change the flavors to what you like the best. This recipe is set to have a little heat but feel free to crank it up a notch by just adding some Sriracha. The best part of the Yum Yum recipe is you can tweak it to fit your taste. Like it a little sweeter, add more sugar and use ketchup rather than the tomato paste. Want more of a garlic flavor, double the garlic powder. When you land on a solution just add all your ingredients to a bowl and whisk them together until well mixed. Take a small cup of water and slowly add it in, about a tbsp. at a time, until you get the desired consistency you’re looking for. I typically add about 2 tbsp. to 4 tbsp. to get it the way I like it.
Next is the Ginger Sauce, which I must say is my favorite! This sauce really works well with seafood and steak, so every time I make this at home you can bet this sauce is made right along with it! This is pretty easy to assemble but will take a little knife work to get it ready. You’re going to need a food processor for this but will need to break down the onions and peel and chop the ginger. Just quarter the onions and do a rough chop on the ginger to break it down. If you are wondering about where to get fresh ginger most grocery stores do carry it in the produce section as it has become a very popular item over the last few years. If you can’t find fresh ginger most do carry a tube or jar of minced ginger close to the same area the jars of minced garlic are in. Once all your veggies are ready add all ingredients to the food processor and pulse until you get a sauce consistency. Let sit while you cook so the flavor can combine.
Preparing and cooking the Veggies:
When making this dish you will be cooking everything hot, so it is important to have good cuts on all your veggies. Cut your carrots, zucchini into thin rounds and slice all your onions and mushrooms the same size. Be sure to get all your ingredients ready around you, everything needs to be within an arm’s reach as this dish cooks pretty quickly. Once you have all your veggies ready, set the wok on the stove on medium high heat. Let the wok continue to heat until you start to see some hints of smoke coming from it, once this happens everything is going to move quickly so get ready. Add in a tbsp. of canola oil, then start with only your carrots. Carrots take a bit longer to cook so let them get started before the rest of the veggies, about 2 minutes. Now add the other veggies in and a tbsp. of butter, let cook to about 3/4ths of the way as they will finish cooking a bit later, about 5 minutes total. With about 30 seconds left in the cook of the veggies, add in your minced garlic and season all with salt and pepper. Remove veggies and set aside for the time being.
Cooking the Shrimp:
With the veggies removed, add a tbsp. of canola oil to the wok and then add in your shrimp. Pending the size of your wok you may need to do these in batches in order not to kill the temperature of the wok. What this means is if you put too many in at one time it will bring the temperature of the wok or pan down and you won’t get that nice crispy crust you’re looking for, instead you will basically steam or boil the shrimp. Doing this won’t allow the delicious sauce to adhere to the shrimp correctly. Now add in a tbsp. of butter and cook the shrimp about 2 minutes, being sure to turn the shrimp during the cook. When they are done, remove from the wok and set aside by the veggies.
Let’s get Saucy:
Here is where its all going to move very fast so you need to be ready or you could burn your sauce, or just over cook it so that it becomes more of a cream texture, and not good at all. Start with your ginger, add a tbsp. of canola oil to the work, then add the ginger. Let the ginger cook about 20 seconds or so then start adding all your other sauce ingredients to the wok, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, siracha, and red pepper, mix well. Let these ingredients cook for a minute or so, until you start to see some reducing. Now slowly start to add in your corn starch slurry. You may not need all the mixture you have made up, so add it about 2 tbsp. at a time until you start seeing the sauce thicken. If you are wondering how thick it needs to be, take a spoon, and dip it into the sauce, turn it over and slide your fingertip down the middle of the spoon and if the sauce stays separated, your good, if it doesn’t you need to let it cook a bit longer.
Finishing:
Your sauce is nice and thick and its time to assemble the dish! Take your veggies and shrimp and add all back to the wok. Fold all the ingredients together to coat them well in the sauce. Once coated, sprinkle some sesame seeds over the top (optional) and serve over some stemmed rice of your choice.
Recipe Instructions:
Japanese Hibachi Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Shrimp Medium size
- 1 Zucchini or Squash Sliced thin rounds
- 1 Yellow Onion Sliced
- 2 Carrots Sliced thin rounds
- 1/4 cup Soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tbsp Minced garlic
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tsp White pepper
- 1 tbsp Sesame Seeds Optional
- 1/2 cup Corn starch slurry
- 1 tbsp Sriracha Optional
- 1/2 tsp Crushed red pepper Optional
Ginger Sauce
- 1 Medium Onion quartered
- 1/4 cup Fresh ginger Peeled & Chopped
- Juice of 1 Lemon and zest (1tbsp)
- 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Brown sugar
- 1 cup Soy sauce
Yum Yum Sauce
- 3/4 cup Mayo
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Granulated garlic powder
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Cayenne powder
- 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter Melted
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste or Ketchup Ketchup for sweeter taste
- 1 cup Water Only to thin as needed
Instructions
- For Ginger Sauce – Add all ingredients to food processor and pulse until sauce consistency
- For Yum Yum Sauce – Add all ingredients to bowl and whisk together until well combined. Use water to obtain consistency
- Heat wok to med/high with some canola oil
- Add carrots to wok and let soften – couple of minutes
- Add in onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. Add in butter, melt, and mix with veggies. Let cook about 3/4ths done, about 5 minutes. With about 30 seconds left add in the garlic, season with salt and pepper and let cook
- Remove wok and set aside. Add a tbsp. of canola oil and place shrimp in wok adding in butter
- Par cook the shrimp, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove from wok
- Add ginger to wok and let cook about 20 seconds, then add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar sesame oil, white pepper, siracha, and crushed red pepper
- Cook for a minute or so until all ingredients are mixed well. Now start to slowly add in the corn starch slurry until the sauce thickens
- After sauce thickens add both veggies and shrimp back into the wok and fold them into the sauce, cooking only a couple minutes more
- Serve over rice
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