Why Hibachi Gets Complicated «

[COOKING SOUNDS] 

Dan Pashman: Let’s see, the egg now. Right? 

Tony Nemoto: Scrambled egg. 

Dan Pashman: Scrambled egg. Okay. 

[CRACKING AND COOKING AN EGG] 

Dan Pashman: Oh, I think I got some shells in there … 

Dan Pashman: I’m at Benihana’s flagship restaurant in Manhattan, living a dream of mine — to be a hibachi chef. And my teacher is the executive chef of Benihana — Tony Nemoto. Tony’s been cooking hibachi for 40 years.

Tony Nemoto: You want to move quickly, so that the egg doesn’t burn.

Dan Pashman: Got it.

Tony Nemoto: You want to keep the yellow egg color.

Dan Pashman: Right. All right, let’s make some noise here, too.

Tony Nemoto: Yup.

Dan Pashman: All right the sizzle …

[GRILL SIZZLING]

Dan Pashman: I didn’t get to try any tricks that day, but of course, the tricks are a big part of hibachi — bouncing the raw egg on the spatula, flipping shrimp tails into your chef’s hat, and, the onion volcano. That’s when the chef builds a tower of onion slices, fills them with oil, and lights the whole thing on fire. 

Dan Pashman: In lieu of real tricks, I did my best to imitate the more percussive elements of hibachi…

Dan Pashman: All right, chicken … 

[HIBACHI SOUNDS] 

Dan Pashman: This is the sound of mixing chicken!

[HIBACHI SOUNDS] 

Dan Pashman: Oh … But see, I got over zealous … 

[LAUGHING] 

Dan Pashman: And I just sprayed onions everywhere. All right, that’s okay though — it’s a show. All right … 

[HIBACHI SOUNDS] 

Dan Pashman: What I learned as I worked with Chef Tony is that, when you go to a hibachi restaurant and watch the chef cook, there is so much more going on than I ever realized.

Dan Pashman: There’s a system for everything, an exact thickness to slice the chicken, an exact number of shakes of the salt shaker. And if you have to get all that right without cutting yourself, which I failed to do. I finished my cooking with one finger wrapped in a paper towel. Don’t worry, it was only a flesh…