Teppanyaki and Teriyaki | What is the difference? Teppanyaki Table

Japanese cuisine is one of the most popular dishes in the world. A very popular Japanese dish is Teppanyaki, a cooking method of grilling on an iron plate. In fact, this is reflected in the name, where "teppan" means iron griddle and "yaki" means grilling or boiling.

However, many people often confuse teppanyaki with another Japanese cuisine: Teriyaki. They may sound similar, but in reality they are quite different. What might these differences be?

If you want to know more about the difference between teppanyaki and Teriyaki, then please continue to read the difference below.

What is Teppanyaki?

First, let's discuss what teppanyaki is. Teppanyaki is a Japanese cooking method that uses a flat teppan plate called Teppan to grill food. When it comes to ingredients, meat includes steak, chicken and seafood. You can also find okonomiyaki and monjayaki (delicious pancakes), dough-like foods such as yakisoba (noodles), chopped vegetables such as carrots, onions and bean sprouts, and condiments such as soy sauce, vinegar, and wine.

Japanese style teppanyaki usually uses yaksoba, cabbage, sliced ​​meat or seafood with vegetable oil, animal fat, or both. Most Japanese restaurants use Kobe beef, which is known to be quite expensive, but the quality is very high.

The main feature of Teppanyaki is that it is classified as a cooking show. Guests usually sit on a large table with an teppanyaki table in the middle. The chef stood by and performed by throwing, flipping, drumming and clinking their tools.

After that, the chef would perform some tricks on the food, including turning the shrimp tails into his shirt pockets, throwing the eggs in the air, splitting the eggs with a spatula, and putting onion rings into the erupting volcano.

Therefore, teppanyaki is not only a culinary art, but also an intimate performing art. Because of this, teppanyaki chefs have been specially trained to not only provide high-quality food, but also take the teppanyaki dining experience to a whole new level.

What is Teriyaki?

Teriyaki is another popular form of Japanese cuisine. The word Teriyaki is a combination of two words: "teri", which means gloss, and "yaki", which means grilled or boiled. Technically speaking, Teriyaki is a cooking method, but it is more commonly associated with sauce.

Teriyaki sauce is described as an amber luster, which adds a salty and sweet taste to grilled meat and vegetables. This is a sweet and fragrant thick sauce with a salty taste. Its basic ingredients are soy sauce and mirin, which is a low-alcohol and sweeter sake called traditional Japanese rice wine. Occasionally, you will also find the flavors of garlic, ginger, citrus and sesame in teriyaki sauce.

Teriyaki sauce is usually used as a marinade for fish (especially grilled chicken), but it can also be used in the oven or broiler, pan, slow cooker, or even wok.

Teppanyaki VS Teriyaki

The main similarity between Teppanyaki and Teriyaki lies in the name. Both contain the word "yaki", which roughly translates to grill or boil. This is very correct, because these two cuisines usually deal with grilled (or cooked) food.

However, they also have many differences. Teppanyaki is a performing art of cooking, referring to the style of cooking food on a teppanyaki table, while Teriyaki often refers to the sauce itself. Interestingly, Teriyaki can also be used for teppanyaki cooking, even if Teriyaki chicken, for example, is grilled more often than not in flames.

Teppanyaki and Teriyaki also have different origins. Teppanyaki originated in Japan, but has a strong Western influence; Teriyaki originated in Hawaii, but has a strong influence of Japanese immigrants. Very interesting, right?

Final Thoughts

Many people may confuse Teppanyaki and teriyaki, but they are quite different from each other. They are similar in that they contain the word "yaki", which means grilled or boiled. However, Teppanyaki is a cooking method that uses teppanyaki table or hibachi table to grill food. At the same time, teriyaki refers to a sauce used for grilling or grilling food.