Tare is a concentrated flavoring agent of Japanese soups that is added to any ramen broth. It is the seasoning element in a bowl of ramen and is responsible for the salt and much of the umami, acidity, and sweetness of the broth. Tare is a liquid, and it is typically added to the bowl via a small ladle before the steaming soup is added. Only 1/10 of the volume of the broth is the tare, and the rest is essentially meat-flavored water. Ramen without tare is bland, unseasoned, and almost always not ramen.
There are many varieties of tare, and usually, the ramen variety is named after the tare used. The most common types of tare are miso, shio (salt), and shoyu (soy sauce) . Shoyu tare is the soy sauce seasoning and concentrated flavor base used in Japanese Shoyu Ramen. The main components of shoyu tare include shoyu, mirin, sake, and salt. Shio tare is salt/dashi-based, and the main components of shio tare are salt and dashi, which are made from primarily soaking kombu (dried seaweed) and bonito flakes overnight.
Tare enables a ramen shop to produce multiple flavors with the same soup base. Rather than keep three separate pots of broth simmering, ramen chefs can keep one pot of broth simmering and add one of three tares to each bowl. In other words, tare modularizes ramen.
In summary, tare is a concentrated flavoring agent of Japanese soups that is added to any ramen broth. It is responsible for the salt and much of the umami, acidity, and sweetness of the broth. There are many varieties of tare, and usually, the ramen variety is named after the tare used. Shoyu tare is the soy sauce seasoning and concentrated flavor base used in Japanese Shoyu Ramen, and shio tare is salt/dashi-based.
