If you had tuned into a recent “Iron Chef” episode on the Food Channel, you would have watched Katsuya Fukushima working feverishly with chef José Andrés, caramelizing onions, pressure-cooking goat ribs and seasoning a goat tenderloin with a blast of applewood smoke. Keeping his wits in the midst of such chaos, Fukushima was a marvel to watch, graceful, poised and cool under cooking fire. That about sums up the man, who works as the head chef of Andrés’ hip, upscale Penn Quarter Nuevo Latino restaurant, Café Atlántico, where life is lived in D.C.’s fast lane.
No stranger to celebrity and hard work, Fukushima — more often called Katsuya or Kats — is a rising culinary star who fell in love with the food world when, after graduating from the University of Maryland, he took a part-time job with D.C.’s Ridgewells Catering company.
“I walked into the kitchen, and that was it,” he says, noting that his favorite part of cooking is its analytical and creative processes. “I’ve always been good at math and art, but I couldn’t see myself sitting at a desk,” he says. “But cooking requires analytical thinking and great creativity.”
From Ridgewells, Fukushima attended Maryland’s L’Academie de Cuisine and then went on to polish his skills by cooking in such local kitchens as Vidalia, Cashion’s Eat Place, Kaz Sushi Bistro, the National Press Club and Jaleo. Then followed a series of cooking jobs that took him from California, New York and the Dominican Republic to Spain and back to D.C. Offered the job as chef of this upscale eatery, Fukushima jumped at the chance, admitting that he had to learn Latino seasonings.
“I grew up eating Japanese and Hawaiian food,” he says. “My mom used to make sushi for Thanksgiving.” Pointing out that cooking techniques and plating the food are basically the same across all cuisines, Fukushima says that he brings a Latin-Japanese approach to his food.
If you get the chance to sample some of his creations in the famed upstairs minibar (a diminutive seating section that features an innovative tasting menu of Andrés’ and Fukushima’s food as art), you’ll get it, the analytical and creative lures that have captured his heart.
“My proudest creation? I love them all,” he says, but maybe the conch fritter with its tricky assembly of frozen then flash-fried chowder-filled batter takes first place. It explodes with flavor, he says, and tastes more like conch than the traditional fritter. “That dish to me is beautiful because of the simplicity, creativity and reinventing of a classic technique,” he says.
A professed workaholic, Fukushima is in the kitchen usually five or six days a week, with the typical day running to about 10 hours. And some days may be 16 or 17 hours long, he says of a recent weekend. But he obviously loves the culinary life, adding that working in the kitchen is a bit like living in a soap opera every day.
In Fukushima’s own words
Do you cook at home? I do cook at my girlfriend’s house, and we try to focus on a healthier cuisine using steaming, baking, braising and sauteing with oil and liquids; I am proud to make a dish with very little fat.
What is your favorite dish? Meatloaf with mashed potatoes with peas or corn. Or sushi.
What is your cooking philosophy? Sensitivity and practicality. When you cook, cook with your senses: sight, smell, feel and taste. As for practicality, I focus on logical things like making sure the food and the plate are hot. You are feeding someone with care, love. Think if you would feed this to your girlfriend or mother.
What is the key to happiness? To really love what you are doing for any kind of success or happiness; that and a desire to learn.
What ingredients are your musts? The basics: salt, sugar, miso or a combination of these three. Then soy sauce, jalapeños, limes, onions, potatoes, eggs, olive oil and rice. With these, you can really make a lot of things.
What are essential tools for your cooking? An immersion blender for changing textures, such as from dense to frothy, and for turning something rustic into something elegant. And good knives.
What is your luckiest moment? The weekend I spent in New York with José Andrés, his wife, and Ferrán Adrià [of Spain’s famed El Bulli restaurant]. I was with my mentor [Andrés], and his mentor. And to be all together in a setting that was no longer work, to be accepted and respected by them was a very special moment for me.
What is your comfort food? Cereal, like Fruity Pebbles or Frosted Flakes. I don’t feel like cooking after a long day, and cold milk and a bowl of cereal is very appealing. It’s a meal and a cold, tasty drink.
My Dad’s Favorite Breakfast
This dish is inspired by a trip to Hawaii when I realized that my dad wasn’t weird. Growing up, my dad and I used to eat canned tuna in oil with a fried egg over easy and all this on top of rice. And with soy sauce, of course! It was delicious, but it was something I never ate in front of my gaijin friends. So I wanted people to appreciate this dish as I still do, but in a more refined way.
1 1/2 cups Japanese rice
3 garlic cloves
1-inch piece fresh ginger or 1 tbsp. ground ginger
Extra-virgin olive oil to cover
1 lb. tuna loin, cut into four slices
4 eggs
Salt to taste
1 cup bonito flakes
Chopped scallions
Shoyu (soy sauce) as garnish
Using room-temperature tap water, wash the rice until the water rinses somewhat clear. You will have to do this several times. Place rice and 3 cups water into a rice cooker, and cook according to manufacturer’s directions.
Using the side of a knife or your hand, lightly crush the garlic cloves and put them into a medium-sized saucepan. Slice the ginger into 1/4-inch pieces and add to the pan.
Put the tuna slices in the saucepan, and add enough olive oil to cover the tuna. Turn the heat to medium-low, and allow temperature to come up to 185 degrees. Take the saucepan off the heat. Let the fish sit in the oil until ready to use.
In a small saute pan, heat one cup of the tuna oil until it just begins to smoke. Crack one egg into a small ramekin, and slide the egg into the oil as if to poach it, using a wooden spoon to baste it with oil. The egg will cook quickly and the edges will begin to brown and become crispy, but the yolk will still be runny. Remove the egg onto a plate lined with a paper towel, and repeat with the remaining eggs.
Scoop a mound of rice into a Japanese donburi bowl or large heatproof bowl. Remove one piece of tuna from the oil and drain. Place it on top of the rice. Sprinkle the tuna with salt. Top the tuna with one fried egg, and sprinkle with bonito flakes and chopped scallions. Repeat with the remaining rice, fish and eggs. Serve with shoyu.
