You have found the ideal location for your dream: your own ramen restaurant. It is in the right location for the kind of people who would include great ramen as a go-to meal choice. There is parking, foot traffic, or it's in a mall that attracts a lot of people.

A ramen restaurant has two areas: the kitchen, where the food is made, and the seating area, where the money is made. If you serve takeout or delivery, that will need a dedicated area and will count as an area where the money is made.

The kitchen normally has to be as small as possible, to leave maximum space for paying customers. But a small kitchen has to be very efficient, and a ramen kitchen even more so. The equipment you choose will be critical, and you will have to answer three questions when deciding how to open a ramen restaurant.

The Three Questions

There are great ramen restaurants in the USA, but they have all had to answer the three questions below:

  • How many meals do you want to sell every day?
  • What menu items are you going to offer? The more complex the menu is, the more critical your equipment choice is.
  • You also have to decide which menu items you are going to make from scratch vs. sourcing from a bulk supplier.

Making, Handling, and Storing Broth

Great ramen requires two key ingredients. The other ingredients are critical as well, but you must have great broth and superb noodles.

Making Broth

At the very basic level, you will need two heating sources for stock: one for making fresh stock and the other for keeping the stock warm during serving. For each additional kind of broth you plan to serve, you will need at least one more heat source to keep the broth warm. Broth can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Heat and Water

The heat source can be gas, electric, or induction. You will also need a dedicated faucet for each stock pot used for making broth since the water level will need to be replenished during the long cooking time.

Stock Pots

The size and number of stock pots you need will be answered by the three questions above, as will the heating method. These pots should be stainless steel for hygiene reasons and easy cleaning. Depending on the kind of broth you will make, the stock pot size could be up to twice the volume of the broth you need to make.

Refrigeration

Your refrigeration capacity will depend on the kind of broth and the quantity you will need. Since ramen stock can be refrigerated for two to three days, well-planned refrigeration will be key to serving great ramen on demand and cost-effectively.

You will also need freezer space, as many raw ingredients such as meat or seafood may well be bought frozen.

Dedicated Ramen Equipment

If your restaurant is in an area with hard water, you may need a water softener to remove the minerals before you use it. Great ramen requires a lot of water, and it has to be just right.

A ramen broth strainer will be a brilliant investment if you plan to make a significant volume of broth. Not only will it save a lot of time and avoid mess, but it will reduce the time the cooling broth is exposed to the elements and thus reduce the chance of spoilage.

Depending on the size of your ramen restaurant, you may need several dozen to several hundred perfectly cooked and peeled soft-boiled eggs every day. An egg-peeling machine will take less space than a human, work much faster, and not waste expensive eggs.

Making and Cooking Ramen Noodles

Freshly made ramen noodles are better than chilled or vacuum-packed and should be more cost-effective to produce. There are many different ramen machines on the market, from hand-cranked for smaller outfits to automatic machines that can make hundreds of pounds per day.

Cooking the noodles is a challenge because each portion of noodles is cooked just before plating. Cooking equipment can vary from range-top pots to dedicated noodle boilers that not only keep the temperature constant but gradually replace the water during the day to keep it fresh.

Ramen Isn't As Easy As It Looks

A dish of ramen seems simple, but it is one of the most complex foods to make and serve well. It requires extreme slow cooking and attentive management of the broth. Final assembly requires quick, but precise, last-minute prep to produce the perfect bowl every time. And we all know how important that is.