四川 shisen ramen: fahrenheit 310
Nothing beats the heat like a cool breeze or a day at the beach. But during this unusually cold winter in Southern California, environmentalists might consider thawing out the sea with a touch of heat. Shisen Ramen in Torrance is a short drive from nearby Redondo Beach, and surely a few jars of their hot pepper sauce, spooned right into the ocean, would restore our precious ecosystems and spare a few three-eyed fish from extinction.
Forget shoyu, miso, and shio. The name of the game at Shisen Ramen is simply its namesake bowl of noodles. This tiny little shop in a nondescript strip mall wears its Chinese influence on its apron. “Shisen” is Japanese for Sichuan, and like a proper Sichuan Chinese restaurant, the Japanese chefs here like to amp things up with a thick, spicy soup made of chicken bones and chili, o glorious chili.
The net effect is pretty much a proprietary variation on tantanmen, which can be had at many a ramen shop around town. But Shisen’s signature dish goes one step further. Slabs of paiko, or Chinese-style breaded and fried pork cutlet, are the restaurant’s specialty. Throw in some baby bok choy as an additional topping and the whole schmozz hews closer to Chinese noodles than what is traditionally considered of as “ramen.”
To quote the immortal Bon: tantanmen is “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER ramen.” But I have a feeling he’s something of a Tokyo purist and these days, outside of Japan, everything shaped like a string is marketed as “ramen” to the rest of the world. I’ve even seen straight-up wonton mein, in a Cantonese seafood restaurant in Picadilly Square, called “ramen” on the Japanese-friendly menu.
I’ll be pretty forgiving in this instance, largely because Shisen Ramen is fairly memorable. The spicy tantan soup holds its own for what it is, especially if you mix in some readily-available pureed garlic. The noodles, like at many a Californai ramen shop, are once again brought to you courtesy of JFC importers and although the much-vaunted paiko (which literally translates to “Chinese pork chop”) is a tiny bit tough and dry, it’s par for the course. Juice it up in the soup and you’ll wind up with a soggy bread coating but really, I’ve had far, far worse.
And then there’s that tableside spice jar. Bam! If I’m in the South Bay and I’m not at Santouka (okay, or Hakata, or even Shin-Mama Ramen), then chances are I’m eating right here. Not a bad way to spend a frozen afternoon.
| "shisen" ramen is a thick and spicy chicken-based broth with its origins in tantanmen, derived from a sichuan dish of the same name. for what it is, its competent here and quite well done. | 7 |
| JFC or Nishimoto Trading must be making a mint supplying ramen shops across the country with the same damn yellow egg noodles. Here, they're fairly firm and hold together well, so someone in the kitchen knows what they're doing. | 5 |
| The paiko, or Chinese-style breaded pork chop, is pretty well put together. Sure it's a bit tough and dry, but I've had much much worse. Baby bok choy works fine in tantanmen, as do the copious quantities of hot spice and garlic that I like to load up on. | 5 |
| Next time I'll try the side dishes like gyoza and possibly fried rice. With such a heavy Chinese influence, I suspect they'll be quite good. Let's keep our fingers crossed. | NA |
| It's a little strip mall sort of place, but at least they make a little effort to gussy up the walls. | 1 |
| They serve a Hakata tonkotsu ramen, I'm not sure why. Stick to what you know! On the other hand, I've had it before and it's... ... ... Two points for trying. | 2 |
1730 W. Sepulveda Blvd. #6 Lunch: 11:30am-2:30pm (M-F) | 17 |
Chinese style ramen in the To’? I think I need you to introduce us.