Benihana® Japanese Fried Rice

When 20-year-old Rocky Aoki came to the New York City

from Japan with his wrestling team in 1959 he was

convinced it was the land of opportunity. Just five

years later he took $10,000 he had saved plus another

$20,000 that he borrowed to open a Benihana steakhouse

on the West side of Manhattan. His concept of bringing

the chefs out from the back kitchen to prepare the food

in front of customers on a specially designed hibachi

grill was groundbreaking. The restaurant was such a smashing

success that it paid for itself within six months.

Here's a clone recipe for the fried rice at Banihana

that is prepared by chefs with pre-cooked rice on those

open hibachi grills.





4 cups cooked converted or parboiled rice (1 cup uncooked)

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

2 tablespoons finely grated carrot

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup diced onion (1/2 small onion)

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons soy sauce

salt

pepper



1. Cook rice following instructions on package (Bring 2 cups

water to a boil, add rice and a dash of salt, reduce heat

and simmer in covered saucepan for 20 minutes). Pour rice into

a large bowl to let it cool in the refrigerator.

2. Scramble the eggs in a small pan over medium heat. Separate

the scrambled chunks of egg into small pea-size bits while

cooking.

3. When rice has cooled to near room temperature, add peas,

grated carrot, scrambled egg and diced onion to the bowl.

Carefully toss all of the ingredients together.

4. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over

medium/high heat.

5. When butter has completely melted, dump the bowl of rice and

other ingredients into the pan and add soy sauce plus a dash of

salt and pepper. Cook rice for 6-8 minutes over heat, stirring

often

Serves 4.



Tidbits



This fried rice can be prepared ahead of time by cooking the rice,

then adding the peas, carrots and egg plus half of the soy sauce.

Keep this refrigerated until you are ready to fry it in the butter.

That's when you add the salt, pepper and remaining soy sauce.