Southern California's 'Ramen Capital' Has A Must-Visit Foodie Trail With Exceptional Japanese Eats

It's interesting to think that a dish first cooked in Japan's alleyway kitchens a little over a century ago could rise to the status of national treasure. But that's essentially the story of ramen in a nutshell. Not only has the original concoction of noodles in hot, umami broth spun off into a plethora of styles — tonkotsu, miso, shoyu, shio, tsukemen, toritaipan — but it's also now one of Japan's major cultural exports. High-quality ramen restaurants have opened up across America, in part driven by a 36% increase in the Japanese population over the past two decades, and nowhere is that truer than in Torrance, California.

Torrance is a small city in the Los Angeles metro area, nestled between Long Beach and LAX, but being mostly landlocked, it sees less of the tourist trade than other corners of south and west LA. It's probably best known as the birthplace of Louis Zamperini, the "Torrance Tornado," an Olympian and Second World War veteran whose miraculous life was portrayed by Jack O'Connell in the 2014 film "Unbroken." But Torrance also has one of the largest Japanese populations in America, and for those in the know, its ramen scene is about as good as anything you'll find this side of the Pacific.

Known as "The Ramen Capital of Southern California," Torrance's ramen restaurants mirror the creativity at large in the ramen industry. While here, you can eat noodles simmered in a meaty tonkotsu broth, the preserve of ramen chefs in the Japanese city of Fukuoka, or sit in a ramen restaurant styled like the labyrinthine alleys found in one of Tokyo's laid-back, working-class neighborhoods. There are nine noodle shops on the city's ramen trail — download a map to find them all, and bring a second stomach. 

If you go to Torrance, make ramen your priority. The nine recommended shops on the city's ramen trail each have different specialities, so you can choose based on your taste preferences. Hakata Ikkousha Ramen, which has 4.6 stars across almost 900 Google reviews, is the first stop on the trail and a good place to kick off your own culinary pilgrimage. It serves tonkotsu ramen — arguably the most popular style globally — featuring stringy noodles in a rich broth of slow-cooked pork bones. It also riffs on the classical style, with tonkotsu that includes spicy cod roe, fried black garlic paste, or fiery noodles, and you can order karaage (deep-fired chicken thigh) and gyoza dumplings as sides.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka started out as a small shio (salt- and stock-based) ramen shop in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, in the 1980s. The soup has a delicate nature and comes with zingy pickled plum on top; you can order this original recipe at the Torrance branch in the Del Amo Fashion Center. Equally worth trying is the shop's miso ramen, a hearty style first cooked in the wintry kitchens of Sapporo. Legend has it that miso ramen was born when a drunk diner ordered the chef to pour miso soup into his ramen broth, and the chef duly obliged. This new creation went down a treat, and decades later, it's still the most popular style of ramen in northern Japan (often made richer with a lump of butter).

If you're feeling indecisive, Torrance Yokocho is your best option. Styled after a yokocho (one of those winding, lantern-lit alleys found in urban Japan), it features several "lanes" and a range of noodle styles: tonkostu-shoyu or spicy miso ramen, and udon (served hot or cold). The menu also includes izakaya-style sides like fried chicken, sashimi, kimchi, and tempura.

Torrance isn't only about ramen. There are other Japanese cuisine restaurants in town, including Curryfornia, a shop that specializes in Japanese curry rice. Though people often assume sushi or ramen is Japan's national dish, curry rice is the most popular, with people in the country eating it up to 80 times a year on average, according to The New York Times. Curryfornia is the place to try this dish in Torrance, with frequent stellar online reviews. Its curry is known to sell out before closing time, though, so get down early.

You could also visit the Torrance Cultural Arts Center and its Japanese landscape garden, where pruned bonsai trees, a koi-filled pond, stone strolling paths, and mounds of moss combine to create a space of utter serenity. If you want to add a Japanese knife to your kitchen arsenal — just as chefs all over the world do — then head to Hitachiya on Torrance's Pacific Coast Highway. The American branch of a shop that opened in Tokyo's Tsukiji Market (Japan's "Food Town") in the postwar period, Hitachiya sells a range of handmade knives as arresting as they are sharp. Or, for Japanese food supplies more broadly, including spices, stocks, snacks, dried noodles, rice, and liquor, head to Tokyo Central in the nearby city of Gardena, a hidden California gem that's great for beach travelers on a budget.