Happily, Kujiraken’s shina soba counter was still bustling with activity and more importantly, soup. In the absense of chewy tongue to share, we bought a bowl each to fill every last square inch of stomach area. Thankfully, the soup arrived scorching hot with a quarter inch of hot oil on top because we couldn’t find a seat in the entire food court! After a few minutes and triangular hawking of tables, we quickly swooped on an opening section at a high-top table.

Although the shina soba was served in a more familiar red plastic bowl, the presentation was organized and colorful. Each quarter of the soup was full of a different topping: a sheet of crisp nori, a field of green and white negi, a forest of soft menma, and the quickly sinking slabs of chashu in another. The center was marked by a singular cut of bright pink and white kamaboko.

The dark amber broth of the shina soba ramen tasted like shoyu with a strong helping of dashi that was easily detected. If it wasn’t for the burning temperature, I would have been tempted to slurp down most of the salty rich broth immediately. Sparing my tender mouth from sudden scalding, I turned my attention to the rest of the bowl’s inhabitants. The light yellow noodles were slender and straight with a firm bite. What really stood out was the pork. The cuts were thick and immensely tender, falling apart between my chopsticks. All the little things-the negi, menma, nori were great as well, but the broth and the pork were outstanding. If I wasn’t so full from my earlier food flirtations I would’ve finished it all. I tried.

There was plenty more to see(and eat) at both locations as we walked off a little lunch looking at vendors. I couldn’t pass up the green tea creme-filled waffles hot off the press. Although I didn’t eat it on the spot, I wished I had because a somewhat soggy waffle isn’t that great regardless of the delicately flavored green tea goodness inside!

There were chirashi sushi boxes, jarred uni, and deliciously fresh mackerel sushi available too. I had to take a picture of the meticulously arranged fish.

What’s great about these fairs also is that photography isn’t only allowed, it’s encouraged! Many of the vendors were happy about me taking pictures of their products. It’s as if they understood I was appreciative of their products. Even though the event was very crowded in both the Torrance and Costa Mesa locations, our mission was successful and we left with full stomachs! See you next year!

Stomachs empty, we arrived ready for battle at the Torrance Mitsuwa. Tokyo’s Chibakiya was offering shark’s fin ramen exclusively at this location for the fair. There was no line(erm…$18 a bowl) and we received our order quickly. The ramen was nicely presented in a ceramic bowl with a real spoon-a step up from the regular plastic bowls offered from other vendors.

Broken droplets of oil created a thin layer afloat the light yellow broth, both smelling and tasting similar to chicken broth. A thick quartered bok choy was held up by a nest of noodles as a pile of negi and chopped white onions slowly sank nearby. The pale yellow noodles were mostly straight and medium firm, easily untangling from one another.

A generous serving of shark fin struggled to remain at the surface of the broth. There were a few large pieces of the transparent cartilage surrounded by a group of smaller threads, all of which were tender and a bit crunchy at the same time. The broth did an excellent job of adhering to the shark fin, each bite full of pungent juices.  

If you’ve ever had shark’s fin soup before, this rendition was very similar. Still, it was fun to try it just for the experience; since ramen is usually a cheap comfort food, pairing it with shark’s fin was a treat. After sampling a few other small items(and resisting many more) we hit the road to Costa Mesa.

In mid-May, Mitsuwa hosted the Umaimono Gourmet Fair showcasing a variety of food stuffs in their food court and via hallway vendors. A sucker for all things new and delicious, I couldn’t hold myself back from the drive down to Torrance on opening day, May 17th. This despite future plans to return that weekend for an intimate event that would span from Torrance to Costa Mesa, sampling exclusive dishes at each store.

My Thursday visit was rather unproductive as the vendor and dining areas were packed to the gills. I hesitated on purchasing an $18 bowl of shark’s fin ramen although that had been one of my primary targets. I retreated to the stalls where the total wait time to collect a warm box of takoyaki was upwards of 45 minutes.

During the wait, I witnessed many times over the fast paced takoyaki cooking process: oil brushed on the pre-formed grills, batter poured, tako chunks dished into each semi-circular space, a dusting of flour and green onions before the mix sits for a spell. 

As the formula sets, 3 cooks whip out a pair of slender skewers and go to work flipping and forming the batter into small balls, all the while shouting out welcomes to passersby.

When a batch is happily prepared, more greetings emit from their mouths as the cashiers beat on a drum. Takoya Kukuru’s Takoyaki is served! The chefs quickly scoop up moist takoyaki into rectangular boxes.

A few moments later in the food court, I removed the warm box from its matching paper carrying bag and popped open the lid. A group of steaming balls was nestled inside, topped with a healthy dose of sauce, ao nori, and waving katsuoboshi.

I busted out my plywood chopsticks and hastily plucked a takoyaki from its resting place. The hot batter gave way very easily in my mouth, a bit too mushy. Still, the shell was moist and the mix of sweet sauce and soft batter melded wonderfully with the distinct fish taste of the katsuoboshi. The inner tako treat was likewise moist and also a bit chewy-a great distinction from the yielding half circle of leftover batter that was now hanging lifeless from my chopsticks.

Lunchtime was over and so was my time at Mitsuwa, until the weekend. I’ll be writing up my shark’s fin ramen and shina soba experiences in Part 2, soon to come!

What a healthy start to the day. Roll out of bed, drink some hot tea, and head over to Mitsuwa for some ramen. As the second and last vendor in the Legendary Ramen Fair at the Torrance location, Asameshi was dishing out noodles with lightning speed. Every inch of the food court was packed with diners, so I retreated to the overflow seating area around the corner.

The first thing I noticed was that Asameshi’s ramen was served in a ceramic bowl, instead of a plastic container like Sumire. By American standards, the bowl might be considered small. In actuality, it was probably a proper serving.

The surface was covered with thin strips of chashu pork, negi, and menma with a cold quarter egg floating to the side, sprinkled with black pepper. The slightly cloudy yellow broth was akin to a bowl of chicken soup in color and permeability. It was a good balance of flavor with the pork bones and dashi faintly detected in the mainly shoyu base. A thin layer of oil was present in the bowl, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly greasy.

The noodles were somewhat curly, yet on the thin side. I worked through them alongside the toppings till only a half bowl of broth remained. There was no problem cleaning out the rest of the bowl, as this ramen was significantly lighter on my stomach.

There was nothing particularly impressive about Asameshi’s ramen. I feel altogether neutral about it, like so many bowls I’ve eaten in the past. I’m sure I wouldn’t go out of my way to taste it again. It showcased a good mix of shoyu and tonkotsu broths and was a filling start to my day. And for that, it did it’s job well. So long to the Mitsuwa Legendary Ramen Fair!

 The workers had an efficient assembly line in rotation, carefully mixing up the batter and cabbage, topping each mound with 2 pieces of thinly sliced pork. Each okonomiyaki was $5 and it was delicious. Warm, fluffy and topped with just the right amount of sauce(hold the mayo!) and ao nori, each bite was inhaled.

The great thing about this dish is that it doesn’t fill me up in a bloated MSG hangover ramen way. It has a lot of veggies too, so that’s a plus. I’d much rather digest one of these puppies than have a salad. This was my 2nd time eating okonomiyaki, and I’ll be learning to cook it at home in the near future. Looks pretty easy.

For a limited time only, Mitsuwa is hosting the “Legendary Ramen Fair” at select locations in SoCal. Since Torrance is usually where I escape LA on the weekends, I was able to try out 2 of the 3 overall ramen stores. The 3rd ramen shop was only at the San Diego location and I’m not that gung-ho to drive all the way there just for noodles. Ok, I did think about it.

My 1st tasting was that of Sumire Ramen hailing from Sapporo, Japan. Even though I’m not a big fan of miso ramen, I ponied up and shelled out the cash for a bowl. Number in hand, I went to claim my feast a short 5 minutes later.

 It arrived in a moderately sized red plastic bowl on fire from the kitchen. Thankfully there was complimentary cold water in large coolers for the taking. The broth was split into layers like a jar of natural peanut butter with the base of thick miso covered by a noticeable coat of oil floating on the surface. In the center a pile of sliced negi (Japanese spring onions) stayed afloat surrounded by mostly submerged menma(seasoned bamboo shoots) and chashu pork chunks.

Deep ramen diving brought up chopsticks full of curly thick noodles. Assuming that the soup would have cooled down to a comfortable degree, I took a tongue burning sip of the thick fluid. It was still red hot, kept so by the scalding gratuitous layer of surface oil. After a proper amount of time spent stirring the mixture, I dove in again. The soup base was artery hardening rich, smoothly coating my mouth as it slipped down to my stomach. It wasn’t salty as I had come to expect.

The noodles were firm, yet tender enough to transport miso broth on their healthy strands. The menma complemented the soup, their almost crunchy texture adding character to the mix. Small moist fatty cubes of chashu pork disintegrated like hot butter under my molars. I also came up with quite a few bits of ground up meat, presumably pork, in the bottom of the bowl.

Sumire served up quite a remarkable bowl of ramen which changed my mind completely about what good miso ramen tastes like. I just couldn’t go near any excess broth after finishing the noodles because of the copious amount of oil. Even so, the bowl did me under an hour later like a Sunday dim sum meal, hitting my stomach like a load of bricks.

See you next year, Sumire!

*photos taken with Sony DSC-T200