Name: Behind the Counter at a Japanese Ramen Yatai Stand
Uploaded: 2025-06-18T10:22:45.000Z
Duration: 12 min 52 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

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This is behind the counter at a local Japanese ramen yattai truck Okay, so I'm just outside of Tokyo and we're doing something completely different Never done on this series before usually in the behind-the-counter videos we do a shop But this time we are doing a yattai food stall.

Basic passive voice

So I'm super excited for this one So that all said let's get this one started Today I'm taking you behind the counter at a yattai Traditional Japanese style food cart called manya miyabi this mobile street food stand just outside of Tokyo at hood Oh, I'm easy No station is run by an aspiring young man following the footsteps of his father a ramen master based in Hokkaido Using his father's original legendary ramen recipe He's dedicated himself to continuing on the family's legacy away from home as he crafts that are rich and flavorful Tonkotsu show you ramen first.

Let's see how he prepares the food truck What are you doing now Listen, I took a quick look at it.

Let's get it So, this is Kenta He's 26 years old and the owner solely running this Kawaguchi ramen shop daily for the last six years But within this year decided to start his own mobile food stall and now comes a week Wednesday and Friday evenings He tirelessly sets up his food stand and hopes to reach more customers Kenta, are you running the food stall by yourself?

Hey is the person helping you your girlfriend?

Wow, that's crazy  Like most typical Japanese Yatai He does his food prep at a remote kitchen before traveling to set up his food stall to ensure he's able to serve the perfect Bowl of ramen each and every time in a timely and efficient manner Kenta, so is the ramen at the stand exactly the same as the one in the shop?

The ingredients are the same, but the noodles are a little different.

The noodles at the food stand are straight noodles, and the noodles at the shop are thin noodles, so the texture is completely different.

While the ramen shop specializes in Hokkaido style miso ramen, the Yatai offers its own unique tonkotsu shoyu ramen, a pork-based soy sauce ramen Though the toppings are the same, each style boasts its own unique flavor profile giving customers a distinctly different culinary experience So Kenta grew up in Hokkaido where his father ran a ramen shop.

As early as elementary school, he was helping out in the kitchen making noodles Instead of like most kids who were playing outside.

At first to him it was just a family chore, but over time he started to notice his father's passion for the craft And the same love for ramen slowly grew within him Wow, the chashu looks so good!

The braised pork is actually boiled for over two hours, mainly in soy sauce and sugar to create its tender and flavorful taste Now that he prepared all of the ingredients, he needs to pack it up in the truck.

In addition to bringing all of the ingredients, he must also bring all of the basic cooking necessities such as gas, water and even power, so he has a lot to load up His food truck is parked nearby so it's just a short walk to get it.

So how long has it been since you started doing the yatai?

After quickly loading the truck, he makes his way to Urawa Misono, which takes about 40 minutes Around 4pm he finally arrives at the location.

Now the two focus on building the food stand, which requires quite an effort to put together each time.

Well, I guess it's a good thing that he enjoys lifting heavy objects, giving what he does for work.

Cool, what do you plan to do in the future?

By the way, we don't really see yatai in Tokyo these days, huh?

In addition to a very strict application process, street vendors say that finding a location is one of the biggest challenges in Tokyo, as public spaces are nearly impossible to use.

Securing a location often requires having a strong connection, so running a food stall business in Tokyo isn't an easy option for most people.

In fact, even in Saitama, Kento struggled finding a place to run his yatai.

He actually started at a different location, but after some time, he had to close down due to space issues.

It was quite a tough setback for him after already getting started, but he didn't give up.

Dedicated to securing a new location, he contacted many places, and after over a month of rejections, he finally found his spot.

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So how did your father react to your yatai idea?

He's not very good at talking, but he's a very loving person.

Kenta actually constructed the sand together with his father back in Hokkaido, and they shipped it all the way to Tokyo.

Thanks to a kind friend of his father's who offered the wood at a reasonable price, Kenta wasn't overburdened by the initial cost.

In fact, he says that he's deeply grateful for the support and trust of all those who helped him bring his dream to life.

Like clockwork, loyal customers are already waiting to enjoy his delicious ramen.

Apparently, during peak times, there can be as many customers as possible.

There are as many as 30 people waiting in line, and since the shop is only open until 8pm, customers make sure not to miss it.

The broth is made by simmering pork knuckles and spine for over 14 hours to extract the savory richness of the marrow, producing a deep and umami-rich soup, which is then combined with a straight fresh noodle and delicious toppings.

Kenta truly wants every customer to enjoy more than just a bowl of ramen.

He aims to create a warm, fun, and welcoming atmosphere, and watching him, it's clear that he does it effortlessly.

His positive energy is a secret ingredient that elevates the whole yatai experience.

It's something that he learned from his father, make customers happy, and cook ramen with a passion.

In addition to serving the ramen, the stand must handle the used dishes as they go along.

Is there anything you need to be extra careful with?

Since the water supply is limited, she's also careful about how much she uses.

Although Kenta appears to be doing well these days, this wasn't always the case.

When he started running his ramen shop, he was only 20, and because he looked younger than his age back then, some customers didn't take him seriously and often treated him poorly.

From this experience, he promised himself to never judge a book by its cover and to treat all customers with equal respect.

Cool, so what do you like about the ramen?