This weekend Mitsuwa Market locations in Torrance and Costa Mesa are hosting the chain's seventh annual “Umaimono Gourmet” food fair, which flies in specialist chefs to feature specific dishes you probably won't find in the United States any other time of year. It's sort of the Comic-Con for Japanese cuisine.

If you want to make the drive down to Torrance this weekend, you could have the chance to try some “Ichimonji-style tonkotsu miso ramen” from Hokkaido (only 150 bowls per day), which is described as a “rich and powerful soup” made with slowly stewed pork bones cooked for 10 hours, handmade curly noodle made of Hokkaido flour, and super dunk fully aged Miso paste.

Also look for squid croquettes, inari sushi stuffed with Japanese red queen crab, “train station-style” seafood bento boxes from Hokkaido, silky cream puffs and matcha custard, from Kobe's renowned desert shop Fugetsudo, in addition to many other treats.

For lovers of Japanese cuisine, it probably doesn't get any better than this. The festival goes all day Saturday and Sunday, so make sure you give yourself a chance to sample some of these imported wonders before they catch the next flight back to Tokyo.


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