What You Need to Know
The hibachi is a traditional Japanese heating device. It is a brazier which is a round, cylindrical, or box-shaped, open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal. It is believed hibachi dates back to the Heian period. They are filled with incombustible ash with charcoal sitting in the center of the ash. To handle the charcoal, a pair of metal chopsticks called hibashi is used, in a way similar to Western fire irons or tongs. Hibachi were originally used for heating, not for cooking. It heats by radiation, and is too weak to warm a whole room. Sometimes, people placed a tetsubin over the hibachi to boil water for tea. Later, by the 1900s, some cooking was also done over the hibachi.
Steps
- 1.
Yakitori (Japan): Provides direct high-heat charring for skewered meats
- 2.
Okonomiyaki (Japan): Offers controlled heat for grilling savory pancakes
- 3.
Teppanyaki (Japan): Serves as portable cooking surface for various ingredients
The Science
Primary Reaction
Maillard Reaction