Teppanyaki is a very simple dish of Japanese origin that is typically grilled on an iron plate and the preparation is often surrounded by a lot of fuss and showmanship. There are many Teppanyaki techniques, but for my first attempt at making teppanyaki I dispensed with a lot of the formality and developed a teppanyaki technique of my own that is easily duplicated in almost any home.

I adapted this teppanyaki recipe from 1000 Classic Recipes for Every Cook. It relies on ingredients that are commonly available from most grocery stores, and is simple to prepare. Give this recipe a try and then experiment with your own ingredients, or if you are fairly familiar with this style of cooking, feel free to substitute ingredients straight away.

Teppanyaki

Serves 2

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
4 scallions/green onions
8 baby corncobs
½ cup bean sprouts
Oil for cooking (olive, sesame or sunflower)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of ginger and garlic paste (ginger paste by itself is fine)

My Teppanyaki Technique

The most important thing to realize is that you probably won’t have access to the expanse of iron stovetop that typically is available to Japanese chefs. What does that mean to the average home cook attempting teppanyaki? It means doing servings in shifts, and not only that, likely it also means portions of each serving in shifts.

To accomplish this, you will need both your largest frying pan, which you will use for your cooking, and another (with a lid), with which you will keep your cooked ingredients warm while you cook the rest of the raw ingredients.

1. Slice the chicken and bell peppers into very thin slices.
2. Trim the scallions/green peppers and then separate each of the leaves and cut them down to approximately the same length of the chicken.
3. Slice the baby corncobs on an angle into three pieces.
4. Heat your main frying pan to the lower end of medium-high. Add a little oil. Put your warming pan on warm/low heat.
5. Combine your soy sauce, brown sugar, and ginger paste into a bowl and stir thoroughly.
6. Put ingredients into the main pan just until you have at least enough room to keep the ingredients separate and still be able to move them around.
7. Start with a serving of chicken, which will likely take up the entire pan. Cook until just starting to show some browning. Remove and place in your warming pan and cover.
8. Then grill the rest of your ingredients, the bell peppers, the scallions/green peppers, baby corncobs and sprouts as you have room until they just start to get a little brown. Add to your warming pan.
9. Once you have one serving complete, plate it and make sure all the ingredients are relatively separate so that your guest can pick and choose their ingredients as they choose.
10. Pour half the sauce into a small dipping bowl, stir once more, and serve with the teppanyaki and chopsticks.
11. Complete the second serving in the same manner.
This is a delicious dish and a lot of fun because you get to choose which food you are going to eat next and dip into sauce. I recommend it to serve at romantic dinners, as it is quite impressive, yet still very easy to prepare.

I am sure however that there are a lot of other teppanyaki techniques out there, and we would love to hear about yours in the comments!