Katsuya uechi wikipedia

Golden, buttery toasted rice with a kiss of soy sauce, melt-in-your-mouth fresh tuna, a sliver of sharp serrano pepper — these are the components of America’s favorite sushi bite: spicy tuna on crispy rice. There’s a version of this dish at practically every sushi restaurant in L.A., if not the U.S., from low-key strip-mall joints to swanky spots like Nobu.

The combination of spicy raw fish and warm, popcorn-like rice is utterly irresistible. But where did all of this crispy rice come from?

The originator, by most accounts, is chef Katsuya Uechi, the CEO and owner of Katsuya Group, which currently operates a number of Japanese restaurants scattered across the greater Los Angeles area and even more in New York, Miami, the Bahamas, and Dubai.

Okinawa native Uechi mastered sushi-making in his home country before immigrating to the States in His first restaurant, Sushi Katsu-ya, opened in Studio City in Despite its no-frills environs, sushi connoisseurs and soon celebr katsuya uechi wikipedia3 JEHU