If you remember, well, this whole series was at first about taming the instant noodle beast deep inside.

But now ... things have changed, over the days, over the weeks.

I'm in the pursuit of truth now.

Truth about soup.

Well in this quest it seems that within my personal conception of ramen, you know right here,

that I did miss a key element, at least one,

and it's called "Tare".

Not "Taray". It means sauce, I mean more or less because it's Japanese.

And it's one of the five elements of a good bowl of ramen.

The main purpose is to season the soup.

Wow

But as always it's a tad more complicated than this as it also needs to amplify the dish

Also needs to bring complexity to the dish, so...

It's not going to be only salt

Yeh so basically I'm going to show you how to make the three main types of tare.

Keep in mind that those three recipes are like a loose adaptation for me from what I understood about the concept.

Long story short, don't bitch too much in the comments.

That being said, let's start.

So the first sauce is called shio ramen tare and it's all about salt.

So let's start with the mirepoix; it's a French mix of two parts onions

One part carrots

and celery, one part.

Wow, I forgot about this but it's a sharp knife now

Aye!

They won't impart so much of a distinctive flavour to the ramen at the end, but they are just there to bring some round foundation to the dish.

Probably the worst metaphor as it sounds very unstable.

I am adding leeks and ginger to stay on the fresh side.

Fry those on medium heat in a bit of oil for a few minutes until you get some colour.

Then add cold water and a piece of kombu,

that's kelp seaweed and turn the heat to medium low.

When it reaches a simmer, take the kombu out.

Add a half a cup of mirin, that's sweet rice wine

a quarter cup of sake, so a dry rice wine

and a few drops of a light vinegar.

Now you want to cook that down to about a cup of liquid.

And now for the seasoning, bear with me on this one.

You need ten big pinches of salt and five big pinches of sugar.

Yeah... that's too much, but it's on purpose.

You see at the end when broth and tare are combined to actually make the ramen soup

it's not done in equal parts. In fact there is a one to ten ratio

so yes, it's fine.

The truth is tasting that sauce, that well concentrated liquid

can be a bit troublesome. So I don't know how exactly they do it in restaurants

but I came out with my own method.

In a glass add ten teaspoons of water and mark the water line.

Now to evaluate the sauce, dilute one teaspoon into that glass

and taste wise, you are looking for a mild seasoning.

When it's finally up to your likings

store that in the fridge.

Umm, so the second sauce is called

shoyu ramen tare and it's all about, wait a minute ...

soy sauce.

Uhh, yeh you've got to trust me on this one.

I mean I had to trust somebody so...

First we need a simple but essential Japanese fish stock

called dashi

Place a piece of kombu in cold water and slowly bring that to a bare simmer.

Fish it out and now drop a handfull of bonito flakes, bring that to a boil and then cut off the heat.

Let them infuse for about five minutes, then strain this.

Doesn't look much, but trust me it is at the core of Japanese cuisine.

Uhh, now do what we did with the carrots, onion and celery

but this time instead of leeks add mushrooms, garlic and ginger to it.

Add a cup of our dashi, half a cup of mirin a quarter cup of sake

and a whole cup of soy sauce

Reduce the liquid down to about a cup.

Season it even further if needed, and then store it in the fridge

Yeh so a quick word, I have based all of my sauces on vegetables instead of pork bones or meat,

just because I think that at the end it would be more versatile in that it would pair better with any kind of broth.

like chicken, pork, seafood or even vegan broth

Huh, that's smart huh!

And then I added fish stock.

*Dong*

The third sauce is called miso ramen tare, and it's all about, I'm sure you got it right.

It's all about, wait a minute... miso paste.

Here again we need to make a stock first

in a saucepan over medium heat add a cup of cold water

a quarter cup of dried anchovies.

They might be scary but they are super flavourful and packed with umami.

The thing is you might want to go the extra mile and remove the head and the guts to avoid any bitterness at the end.

Bring that to a boil and then reduce to low

and cook for ten minutes, strain and set aside.

Okay, back to the sauce

onions, carrots and celery, but this time I'm adding bell peppers

just for some extra sweetness and fruitiness at the end.

When it starts caramelising add the stock.

Half a cup of mirin, a quarter cup of sake and half a cup of miso paste.

As always, reduce the liquid to about a cup.

Of course taste it with the method I mentioned earlier

and adjust with salt and sugar.

And all these sauces are now ready, let's move on to the tasting session.

Gosh! Finally!

So I got some good homemade broth this week

I believe it's episode four of the ramen addiction series.

I also got some beautiful homemade fresh noodles, 'cos, uh... , 'cos...

'Cos basically my stock of instant noodles is starting to run low.

Three, four, five -- eight, nine -- eleven, twelve!

Twelve!

It's not going to last very long, probably until...

tomorrow night.

Hahaha, no I'm joking. But I shouldn't.

Let's start with the shio ramen sauce

A few tablespoons at the bottom is more than enough.

Top it all up with broth

and drop those beautiful noodles in.

*Slurping*

Weiiiiiii.

Saltiness and sweetness.

Super clean, super pure, super simple.

Probbaly a bit too simple, especially for a bowl of just noodle like this.

Okay, next.

Shoyu ramen sauce.

It's more syrupy this one.

It's not more salty but it's more complex in terms of flavour.

So to make a meaningful metaphor right here

If the first one, the shio ramen tare

was like a kick, it was rather a low kick

This would be a high kick, probably like in the ribs.

'Cos it's way more powerfull, it's stronger, it's tastier in many ways.

Now the miso ramen tare.

Wow, it smells sweet.

It's like a warm blanket in the winter, it's like a gentle slap in the face.

If that thing ever exist, that's what it is.

So guys that's it, I know it's hard to believe,

but those two, three tablespoons of liquid do change the whole flavour profile big time.

Guys, I really hope you learned something interesting about ramen today,

uhh, but you know how it works, the whole series is not complete yet

we still need to work with the fourth element

the aroma, oh and also the fifth element.

So just keep your eyes peeled, you know how it works

If there's somehting you particularly want to see in this in this ramen addiction series

then please mention it in the comments down below.

And lastly click subscribe because I make new videos every week

you know it's not always about the food sometimes it's about the recipies

sometimes it's about the journey and about, you know, pursuing that meaning

the thing that matters the most!

Take care, bye bye, salut!