Hibachi Grill | Hibachi vs Teriyaki – What's the Difference?

We are big fans of Japanese food! They have some of the best flavor combinations, culinary skills and dramatic dishes.

Teriyaki and hibachi are two common phrases we hear a lot, but do you really know the difference?

What is the difference between Hibachi and Teriyaki? Hibachi refers to a cooking surface and dish. Teriyaki refers only to specific dishes. Hibachi also usually uses only soy sauce. Teriyaki uses the world famous Teriyaki sauce, which consists of an array of delicious ingredients.

If you want to know more about the main difference between these two terms, then this article is for you!

We'll take a closer look at what hibachi and Teriyaki are. This will make it easier for us to compare similarities and differences.

Traditional Hibachi - What is it?

Hibachi is a kind of traditional Japanese grill, which has a history of hundreds of years. It is believed to date back to the Heian period from 794 to 1185 AD.

This structure is a box-like container without a lid. Inside the box is a brazier (a container that holds burning charcoal).

The brazier is made of heat-resistant material and can withstand extremely high direct temperatures. Sometimes containers are only lined with this type of material.

Hibachi was originally used to help heat rooms.

Today, especially in North America, the term is used to describe a cooking stove used to prepare and grill a variety of ingredients and dishes. Of course, this type of Hibachi looks very different.

hibachi grill indoors

New Meaning of Hibachi

The word "hibachi" translates directly to "hot pot" or "fire pot", which is essentially this Japanese hibachi grill. However, the term also refers to a specific style of dish used in Japanese culture.

We will discuss both of these issues today so that you can get a clearer understanding of how Hibachi differs from Teriyaki.

Hibachi Grill

First, the grill. A Hibachi grill is also a container that contains a "pot" where charcoal or wood can be burned and directly heat the iron plate on top.

These plates are usually removable and can be flat or griddle-like. This allows you to be versatile when it comes to cooking.

These containers are usually portable, but can sometimes be so complex that they are installed directly in furniture.

And, if you're particularly into this style of cooking, you'll find many decorative design features to match the aesthetics of the room.

Today, hibachi can be electric, gas-heated, or charcoal (or wood). From what we've seen, no one type is necessarily better than the other, and in the end, it's going to come down to personal preference.

Using a Hibachi Grill

You can cook almost anything on a hibachi stovetop. This includes cooking or grilling a variety of vegetables, fruits, meats, and even sandwiches, pancakes, and kebabs. The possibilities are endless!

To use a hibachi grill, preheat the grill first. This will help the food cook evenly and will also help prevent the food from sticking. Then, if you want (but not always necessary), you can add some oil or butter.

Once you have the food on, you can let it cook until about halfway through the cooking time.

Assuming you are grilling bell pepper flakes, it will take a total of 4 minutes to cook. After about 2 minutes, flip the slices to the other side.

If your hibachi has a lid, you can close the lid after turning the food halfway through. Once the food is cooked, you can check if it's done.

For meat, we strongly recommend using an internal thermometer to check the internal temperature. If you need to continue cooking, do it every 1 minute.

Hibachi usually cooks quickly because of its high temperature. It's obviously much easier to control the temperature with an electric model than with a model heated with charcoal.

Hibachi-Style Dishes

Hibachi style dishes are always made on a Hibachis grill. But that's not the name of these dishes. Hibachi dishes are made from four basic ingredients: meat, vegetables, soy sauce and rice.

To make hibachi dishes, first heat the grill. Then, fry the vegetables in some hot oil. While they are frying, dip the meat in the soy sauce and place it on the same plate.

Vegetables and meat are not cooked together. Once the vegetables and meat are cooked, serve with some freshly cooked plain rice and extra soy sauce.

Hibachi-style dishes are often bland because soy sauce is the only unnatural ingredient used to flavor the meat. Dishes always focus on the natural and fresh flavours of the vegetables and meats used.

And, the lack of extra seasonings and sauces also means these dishes are generally lower in calories.

Think of this cooking method as a very healthy way to cook food while adding minimal flavor, but it's still very tasty.

Ingredients Used

You can use almost any vegetable and meat you can think of. However, there are some classic options that are heavily used and grouped together.

Some great meat choices include beef strips, steak slices, chicken slices, squid heads, shrimp and scallops. For vegetables, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, and eggplant work especially well.

However, the possibilities are indeed endless. Whether it's flakes or flavored, it will do just fine!

As we already mentioned, traditional hibachi dishes are made with only soy sauce.

You'll find recipes that include other seasonings in the dip; however, we think they're pretty much about to change the whole concept of hibachi!

Safe options you can add include sesame oil, garlic, and ginger. But personally, we won't be adding more!

What is Teriyaki?

Unlike hibachi, the term "Teriyaki" refers to only one prepared dish. The word can be directly translated as "glossy roast".

The recipe for this dish is very similar to hibachi dishes, which is why many people are often confused.

Japanese teriyaki is a dish in which a thin layer of glossy sauce covers bite-sized pieces of meat. Vegetables can be added, but they are not required. For Japanese Teriyaki, it's all about the sauce.

This Japanese Teriyaki sauce has a complex flavor and is made with several ingredients. This includes soy sauce, sake, mirin, brown sugar and some optional spices.

Garlic is also very common. This creates a delicious sweet and savory sauce that coats the meat as it cooks.

As far as meat is concerned, cuts or skewers of cured fish or poultry such as chicken or duck are more common.

Ingredient Alternatives

We think it's worth mentioning that often substitutes are used for hard-to-find ingredients like mirin and sake.

Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice. The alcohol content is between 15-22% ABV (alcohol by volume).

To make it easier to find alternatives to sake, you can try Chinese rice wine, dry sherry, or rice wine vinegar.

Mirin is very similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content. You can use the same substitute for mirin.

When substituting mirin, you may need to add some sugar to help balance the acidity of the substitute.

How Teriyaki is Made

Teriyaki style dishes are very similar to hibachi. They can even be made on a hibachi grill!

Before cooking begins, soak the meat in the teriyaki sauce. This helps to tenderize the meat while adding flavor. Your sauce will ultimately determine the flavor of the dish.

Again, you'll first need to preheat the grill to ensure it cooks food evenly and quickly. Once you have the cutlets or skewers on the grill, you can start slathering the meat with fresh Teriyaki sauce.

The meat is cooked with the sauce, which helps give it more flavor, thicker consistency, soft texture and smooth brown coating.

Hibachi vs Teriyaki – What's the Difference?

Despite appearing to be almost the same thing, these two Japanese dishes are very different. We'll break these differences (and similarities) into major sections so you can better compare them side-by-side.

The Sauce

So, this is arguably the biggest difference between the two dishes. Hibachi is made with soy sauce, usually just soy sauce. Some other additives can include up to sesame oil, garlic and ginger.

Teriyaki sauce, on the other hand, is much more complicated. As we mentioned, it consists of soy sauce, brown sugar, optional spices and some type of Japanese sake, usually sake and mirin.

Teriyaki sauce is a flavorful soy sauce with a balance of saltiness and sweetness. It also adds umami to your marinated and spread meat.

As you can see, the natural flavor of hibachi sauce is not as intense (or at least complex in flavor) compared to a simple soy sauce glaze.

Ingredients

Hibachi dishes consist of bite-sized slices of vegetables, a type of meat, soy sauce (or soy sauce mixture), and rice.

Teriyaki on the other hand, simply refers to cooked cutlets or skewers glazed with the aforementioned Teriyaki sauces.

Hibachi also always uses fresh ingredients (vegetables and meat). The ingredients are cooked separately. For Teriyaki, the meat is marinated in a sauce and then oiled before cooking.

There is a wide variety of traditional ingredients for hibachi dishes. For meat, you can use poultry, red meat, white meat, or seafood. For vegetables, anything you can think of will do.

Teriyaki on the other hand, often feels more restricted (if traditional ingredients are followed), using mostly poultry, such as chicken or duck, or seafood. You can add some veggies, but it's not required.

The Cooking Method

Both dishes are made on a hotplate (grill). And, they can even be made on a hibachi grill. Hibachi naturally refers to the grill itself, but also to the way the ingredients are cooked.

To make hibachi dishes, vegetables and meat are cooked separately. Only the meat is dipped in soy sauce (or soy sauce mixture) before being cooked.

Cooking is usually quick and requires very high temperatures. This is also why it's important to use flakes or bite-sized pieces.

Then, once the food is cooked, the hibachi vegetables and meat are served with more soy sauce and rice.

Teriyaki is made by first soaking meat or skewers in Teriyaki sauce.

Once fully marinated, cook the meat on the grill (or hibachi grill) until the meat is cooked and reaches the correct internal temperature. While the meat is cooking, you can keep slathering more teriyaki sauce on it.

Characteristics Of Cooked Dish

Once these dishes are made, they naturally have very different characteristics. This includes having different flavors, textures, nutritional value, and of course, appearance.

Hibachi is much lower in calories because it doesn't have as many ingredients in the sauce. However, this only works if you don't consider it to be served with rice.

The meat itself is usually dry because it has not been marinated to be tender.

Compared to teriyaki, the meat is also less spicy, less moist, and less complex in flavor.

That said, it does have a more natural flavor and enhances the flavor of the ingredients (it doesn't hide it at all). The accompanying vegetables add moisture to the dish.

Teriyaki is more smooth, moist and tender. The tenderness of the meat comes from marinating.

Teriyaki meat is also more flavorful. However, you often lose the flavor of the meat itself, and some sauce recipes can be overwhelming.

Can you use a hibachi grill indoors?

You can certainly use a hibachi grill indoors, but we recommend doing so only if it's electric. Gas and charcoal grills produce large amounts of carbon monoxide, a highly toxic gas.

While an electric grill can still make a room smoke, you won't be inhaling dangerous fumes. And, when using the grill, just make sure the room is well ventilated at all times so the smoke can be removed.

What is Teppanyaki?

Teppanyaki is a phrase that is often incorrectly used to describe hibachi-style cooking. The difference is the type of grill used.

Teppanyaki grills use an iron griddle with a flat surface, while hibachi grills have a solid surface rather than an open grates. Teppanyaki is also often used to describe the art of preparing this food in front of guests.

Can you eat (and serve) teriyaki sauce raw?

While you can technically eat it raw, it's not appealing at all. The texture of the sauce is not yet developed and there is no complex flavor.

You should marinate the meat in the refrigerator for a few hours and then cook it on a hot plate. This tenderizes the meat and the sauce develops flavors and transfers those flavors into the meat.

If you want some teriyaki sauce on the side, be sure to cook it in the pan first.