Скачать или смотреть A delicious bridge between cultures in Seattle's Rainier Beach neighborhood - KING 5 Evening

Great taste knows no boundaries for Chef Harold Fields.

"I'm an African American doing Japanese-style street food."

Sometimes, he says, people find that confusing. But his love of Japanese food grew from his love of Japanese people.

"It's just this path that we get put on."

As Hurricane Katrina struck his New Orleans home, Fields and his wife were at her father's funeral in Tokyo.

"The destruction had happened. I'm sitting there watching it all on TV."

They were stranded there for more than three months.

"Being there and just getting this unbelievable, extraordinary level of kindness, you can't wait to pass that on," he said. "And from a food standpoint, that was whole different transformation for me."

Fields would return to Japan to train with top chefs.

"No one spoke any English. Cut, chop, prep, just day-in, day-out doing that."

He would eventually end up at the Space Needle restaurant, but the flavors of Asia continued to inspire him.

"If I was going to do it, I was going to do it as true and authentic as I possibly could."

At the Rainier Beach kitchen of his company, Umami Kushi, Chef Fields and his staff create authentic okazu pans, grab-and-go treats made from fresh dough and savory fillings.

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"The curry, which is my number-one seller, is made in the tradition of the curry that I tasted when I lived in Japan."

The salmon bacon and potato pan adds a decidedly Northwest twist. He also makes yakitori and yuzu koshio, a hot and citrusy condiment.

"Yuzu is a small little fruit that grows in Japan, has that floralness to it that is completely different than anything you've ever come across."

They also offer tasty, incredibly fresh, New Orleans-syle beignets, which sell out quickly.

"That is an item you are best to pre-order, without a doubt. We don't cook them until you show up."

Field's alter ego is a specially created cartoon logo named Afropanman.

"I wanted to have a character that, hey, make no mistake, that's an African American-owned business."

This chef is using the flavors of the world to build bridges between cultures. And the result is delicious.

"Be true to what you're trying to do."

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Evening on KING 5 celebrates the Northwest. Watch it LIVE weekdays at 7:30 on KING 5 or streaming on https://www.king5.com/. Find more stories like this on our website: https://www.king5.com/evening

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