Last Week, On Grandpa Gotta Eat...
I detailed my first encounter with the food trailer Kento: Hibachi On Wheels. I mentioned buying the Hibachi Steak and Shrimp, which came with Hibachi rice and vegetables. I talked about the portions and the price—$13.50. Later, I wondered if I could come up with the same Hibachi flavor, but for less. And how much less?
Today, on Grandpa Gotta Cook, I take on the food trailer in taste and price. Except the food trailer doesn't know. I'd like to keep it that way. In case, you know, I ever decide to go back. Like if my meal was a disaster, or actually cost more.
This week's edition of Grandpa Gotta Cook is posted in conjunction with the friendly foodslingers at 
Inside The Numbers
I needed to feed six people this time (the oldest son and his wife were over—yes, there five month old son was with them but he's not on solid food yet), so in order to beat Kento's cost, I needed to come in under $81. A few of the ingredients I had at home, but the majority, and the most costly were still waiting to be bought at the store. Sirloin steak, shrimp, yummy sauce, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, zucchini, bell peppers and mushrooms.
Rice, eggs, bacon and onion I already had, so the Japanese fried rice was pretty much set.
Cooking
I started on the Hibachi Steak first, cutting it up into small chunks. Then, it was supposed to sear in oil and butter for a few minutes, then be set aside for the vegetables.
The vegetables were supposed to cook together for a few minutes, after being microwaved for a few. Once that was done, the meat came back in, and then the shrimp was added. Everything was stirred and then at the end, some sesame oil was poured onto the mixture and allowed a minute or two to punctuate the flavor.
While this was happening, the rice I had previously started in the cooker was ready to go, but before I could fry it, I needed bacon and onions. So I got those things going. The bacon was precooked so basically it was waiting on the onions to get more translucent.
Now, in this version of Hibachi rice, I also needed egg, so I got on scrambling those into fairly small pieces, to be added in with the bacon and the onions.
With the rice stirred in, the whole concoction sat frying for a few minutes, where in the soy sauce was added so that it took on a little more flavor and a brown color.
Taste Test
The finished plate came out looking like the image below. Unlike Kento, I didn't separate out the steak, shrimp and vegetables, so it looks more like a stir fry, which is kind of what it became. Instead of each meat or vegetable getting grilled, that didn't really happen, so the flavor didn't really reflect the full Hibachi experience.
That said, though, the food was still really good. The rice essentially evaporated. I probably could have made more of it and still there not be any left over. I've already had a couple requests to make more.
As for the meat and vegetables, I think they were all cooked well with plenty of flavor, just not the grilled part.
Which means next time I either have to do things separately (meaning more pans being used), or I actually put them on the grill, which I think I'll try.
When it came down to it, though, the yummy sauce was the hit. We came close to using half the bottle, even though I added some water to help it last longer. Cool thing is, I didn't have to make it.
So, Taste Was Good, Just Not Hibachi...
What about the cost?
Well, all told, the ingredients I bought cost $42.42. However, I didn't use all of the steak or zucchini, sesame seed oil, or yummy sauce, and none of the soy sauce, since I found out later we still had some of that. That knocks off $14.75, reducing the cost to $27.67. Add up the stuff I had at home—The rice was two cups worth from a big bag bought at Costco, bacon was about the third of the bag, the eggs we bought from friends (I used two), a fourth of onion costs less than 30¢, a bit of soy sauce, oil and butter. Let's say about $3.00. That brings it up to $30.67.
This was one of the faster meals I've managed to put together. All told, prep and cooking was around 1.5 hours. I have no idea how much the guy at Kento makes an hour, but I bet it's not more than $15.00. So let's say total labor equals $22.50. That puts the cost at $53.17.
Of course, there's the electricity used and other expenses, that we could add on, plus whatever I would like my profit to be, but even if I added in those things and took $1 a meal for my profit, I think I could still manage a total cost of the meals for six people at $59.70, which conveniently works out to my $9.95 a plate target.
Not Quite An Apples To Apples Comparison
But I'm still saying I could do it for less and make a decent a profit.
Now, I've just got to get the Hibachi flavor going.
Okay. That's all I've got. What will I have next week? Will I cook or just eat? Your guess is as good as mine.
Ciao!
All images courtesy of Glen Anthony Albrethsen
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