What do you mean by Teppanyaki?
Teppanyaki means "grilled on a flat iron plate". When we decompose the Japanese word Teppanyaki, you will get: "Teppan"鉄板 means iron plate, while "Yaki"焼き means baking simply.
In layman's words, Teppanyaki is a Japanese cuisine, involving the use of flat iron frying pans to cook food.
You might think it's a very simple food - but you're wrong.
Teppanyaki is one of the most complex foods there, and it takes a lot of skill to master this cooking method.
This is the art of Teppanyaki, a video taken by David tran at his benihana restaurant:
Brief History of Teppanyaki
When I talk about history in an article about Japanese affairs, you all want to know the ancient times when ninja and samurai dominated.
But it will be a very common mistake. Teppanyaki is relatively new, but the way people prepare is ancient.
It all started in 1945, when a restaurant chain called Misono introduced the concept of cooking Western food in "iron plate". The idea is not so popular among local people because they find it common below them.
But the restaurant chain found that tourists were fascinated by the food, mainly because the chef showed them the skill of the knife.
In the culinary world at that time, it was a brand new thing.
Teppanyaki has grown dramatically in the United States in the form of large chain restaurants, more common in the 1980s.
The chefs of these diners will cook meat, vegetables and even rice in front of the customers in large iron hotpot.
Dinner guests can enjoy the culinary experts watching the superb culinary skills in an interesting way, which can bring some exciting experiences if you have never seen it before.
It's like a dinner party and a show, packed together.
However, compared with the Teppanyaki restaurant in the United States, the Teppanyaki restaurant in Japan has an extraordinary atmosphere.
Teppanyaki is not Hibachi
Teppanyaki is often mistaken for a Hibachi grill.
However, although Hibachi uses open fire barbecue, Teppanyaki uses a strong frying pan style, but the cooking surface is large.
This makes the Teppanyaki suitable for rice, onions, carrots and mushrooms, or they will fall from the grate.
The history of Teppanyaki is very interesting - no doubt, however, it must be noted that this form of cooking is booming in modern times and is a key factor in spreading Japanese culture around the world.
The next time you see a Japanese man in a traditional dress flaunting his knife skills in a restaurant - make sure he's not a ninja, but a Teppanyaki chef!
Definition of Teppanyaki
Teppanyaki refers to vegetables, fish and meat dishes prepared in a large frying pan, usually built-in on the table of the diner.
The word "Teppanyaki" comes from Teppanyaki (meaning Teppanyaki) and Yaki (meaning grilled, fried or roasted).
Teppanyaki is considered to be an on-site kitchen cooking method, and the chef prepares the dish in front of the customer. The guests will then choose the cooking style they want and the seasoning they choose.
With the right skills and cooking tools, the chef will do the rest of the preparation. Usually, each dish is prepared once, so that customers can enjoy the taste and cooking style of the food.
Teppanyaki should not be considered similar to grills.
The latter uses gas flame or charcoal, with an open grate structure, while the iron plate burning plate has a flat design, which is very suitable for cooking meat, chopped vegetables, eggs, rice and other small ingredients.
If you're not sure which type of grill you want to buy, it's best to put iron plate on the list. The next section explains the benefits of using this type of grill.
The beginning of Teppanyaki
The Teppanyaki style Steakhouse was originally offered in a Japanese restaurant chain called Misono. They put forward the idea of cooking Western food with iron plate in 1945.
Teppanyaki has been burning in Japan for hundreds of years. It's considered Japanese cuisine, but many people in Japan think it originated in the West.
