Hibachi vegetables are the perfect side for your hibachi themed dinner! Once they’re prepped, they cook quickly and taste delicious!
These vegetables are the dark horse side dish to your Asian themed meal. Or just a great side if you’re looking for that salty, rich flavor that these veggies take on and wear like a warm jacket.
It’s like when you’re at a restaurant for this exciting hibachi meal and you’re watching as they make the fried rice and you’re sitting there, just salivating, waiting until you can sneak a little bite as the chef expertly cooks the rest of your meal in stages. You get to watch them cook the protein of your meal and you’re looking at your plate like, YAS. Rice? Good. Meat? Good. What else could I possibly need in this life? Nothing. But then the chef whips out another platter full of veggies. And then just when you think you didn’t need anything else, you realize not only is there room on your plate for more food, you decide that your body can indeed make some room for some vegetables because, duh, vegetables are healthy. So, then a spatula full of healthy vegetables dripping in salty soy sauce and deliciousness gets dumped on your plate and you eat them with gusto because they came out of nowhere and taste awesome.
From my experience, the hibachi vegetables that get served at the restaurants that I’ve been to always seem to include mushrooms and while I do enjoy mushrooms, I just can’t get on board with them in this capacity, so I didn’t include them, but by all means, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Instead, the veggies I did invite to the party in my mouth were onion, broccoli, zucchini and carrot. I always use sweet onions because I love how delicious they are when they’re caramelized. You can also use pre-sliced carrots or buy the match-stick carrots you can find right in the grocery store. I’ve done both, it just depends on what mood I’m in, to be honest.
Now we need to talk about something really important: Mise en place.
Mise en place is basically French for having your shit together before you start actually cooking. When it comes to preparation, it is essential for cooking and ensuring that chaos does not ensue. So, what this means to me (you know, since I didn’t go to culinary school; I just watch a lot of food network.) is that any recipe I’m going to use, I read the whole thing first. Then I make sure I have all of the tools and ingredients necessary to accomplish whatever it is I’m going to make. Once I know I have everything, the final step is to cut, chop, measure, slice, peel, whatever it takes to get everything ready to be cooked. This is the best way to set yourself up for success and prevent chaos later. I’m always looking out for Future!Katie.
I usually start with the onions and let them caramelize a little bit before throwing in the other veggies. I’m just not a huge raw onion fan, so that’d be my suggestion. Once I see that they’re a little translucent and on their way, that’s when I decide to throw the rest of them in. Keeping all of the vegetables relatively the same size helps with cooking time, too. I also like to make sure that I let the veggies hang out in one spot for a little bit too, that way you can start to get some color. Not color like you’ve left it forever so it burned, but just a little caramelization on one edge here and there tastes so good and gives it that feel that I’ve actually cooked it on a teppanyaki (the griddle-type surface used at hibachi restaurants) when really I just used my wok.
After a few minutes of letting the veggies hang out in the heat, that’s when I add the sauce. The vegetables just kind of drink it up, but I also keep them moving because the teriyaki sauce has quite a bit of sugar in it, and I don’t want it to burn. Move those veggies around so they’re all coated and then just keep and eye on them until you’ve reached the perfect tenderness. I don’t like it when they’re super mushy, so I call them done once they are a basically fork tender and the sauce has darkened the vegetables. The carrots should have softened but the zucchini shouldn’t be mush. That’s your litmus test.
You guys. Come on. Don’t you just wanna eat all of that?
Remember how we said that vegetables are healthy? Yeah, so it’s totally fine if you eat more than you would want to tell someone you ate. I won’t tell.
Hibachi Mixed Vegetables
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ sweet onion roughly sliced into strips
- 1 zucchini cut into strips
- 1 cup carrots sliced
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat melt the butter and oil and sauté the garlic and onions until soft and beginning to be translucent. You’re looking to begin the caramelization of the onions.
- Add the remaining veggies to the pan – zucchini, broccoli and carrots.
- Add your sauces to the pan (soy sauce & teriyaki sauce) and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook for 5-10 minutes, until your vegetables are tender.
- Top with sesame seeds (optional) and serve immediately.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to see how it turned out!
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