Shio Tare: 3 Essential Components in Soup You've Probably Never Heard of

Shio tare is a kind of sauce for making shio ramen.

Shio means salt and tare means sauce in Japanese.

It is made of salt, sake, bonito, and soy sauce.

1 But wait, there is another shio tare…

This one is a condiment for fried vegetables.

If you pan fry meat, veggies, and shio tare together, you can upgrade your dish to restaurant quality.

You can also use it for BBQ.

Or as a steak sauce.

Here is how to make it…

You will need these ingredients below.

• Green onion              1
• Sake                        2 tablespoons
• Sesame oil               2 tablespoons
• Sesame                    2 teaspoons
• Chicken bouillon        2 teaspoons
• Lemon juice              2 teaspoons
• Salt                          2 teaspoons
• Pepper                         a little
• Water                           1.5oz(50ml)

1. Chop green onions and mix all the ingredients in a bowl.

2. Done!

Let’s go back to the ramen sauce...

2. If Shio ramen is a Power Ranger, he will be the Blue Ranger

The blue ranger is narcissistic, calm and smart.

He is really cool and always has different ideas from other Rangers...

3. Have you ever had good shio ramen?

When I was a college student, my friend Masamichi was really confident and he would often say he could make the best shio ramen in the world.

One day, he treated me to his shio ramen, and it was actually not bad but not so great.

I said oh, it tastes really good so as to not hurt his feelings.

Have you ever told this kind of white lie?

4. Ramen soup consists of 3 components:

Broth (dashi) + Sauce (tare) + Seasoning Oil (Koumiyu)

Ramen soup is the core of ramen.

The proportion of these elements is…

Broth: 14oz (400ml)

Sauce: 1.4oz (40ml)

Oil: 1 teaspoon (5ml)

And now, we are talking about the sauce (tare) .

Specifically the sauce for shio ramen.

Compared to shoyu ramen, 

5. Shio ramen is a lot more difficult to make

This is because salt is the main ingredient to define the taste of shio ramen.

Salt doesn’t contain umami, but…

Soy sauce itself for shoyu ramen already has a lot of umami.

This makes it a lot easier to make shoyu ramen compared to shio ramen.

So, the important element of shio ramen is umami.

What kind of umami do you need then?

6. Different kinds of umami make your shio ramen perfect

Adding one type of umami makes your ramen a lot better.

However, by combining different kinds of umami, you feel it is dramatically tastier.

Here are 4 types of umami…

Glutamic acid:

Glutamic acid is umami that comes from kelp, vegetables, or fermented food.

Inosinic acid:

This umami comes from fish and meat.

Guanylic acid:

Guanylic acid is umami from mushrooms.

Succinic acid:

This umami comes from shellfish.

7. Here is the recipe for ramen shio tare

Ingredients (for 10 bowls)

• Sea salt 1.8 oz (50g)
• Water 1 cup (250ml)
• Sake 3 tablespoons
• Scallops 1.8 oz (50g)
• Bonito flakes 0.3 oz (10g)
• Konbu 2 pieces
• Shitake 2

1. Soak konbu and shiitake overnight

2. Get rid of konbu

3. Put all the ingredeant(except konbu) in a pod and turn on heat

4. Boil it in low heat for 10 minutes

5. Cool it down and filter it using a strainer

6. Done!

Due to Covid, a lot of good ramen restaurants have closed

It makes me feel very angry.

I used to eat ramen out frequently,

But in this situation, 

Ramen shops have started to shorten the hours, limit the number of customers, or even closed their shops.

It has affected the industry so much.

I am afraid good ramen will be gone

But meanwhile, you still can enjoy ramen in the comfort of your own home.

Here are some of my recommendations for ramen lovers.

1. Sapporo Ichiban Shio Flavor

MY THOUGHTS OVERALL ★★★★☆

In truth, Sapporo Ichiban delivers a good quality shio ramen experience.

Actually, it is very difficult to find good shio ramen.

Do you know why?

Because it is very difficult to make it since it is very simple.

There are many good shoyu and miso flavored instant noodles out there.

But I feel specifically, the shio flavor market is monopolized by Sapporo Ichiban.

Think about this for a moment having good shio ramen for your dinner with your favorite ramen toppings.

Now, you want some, don’t you?

2. Nissin Raoh Shoyu Flavor

MY THOUGHTS OVERALL ★★★★★

It is nearly impossible to make restaurant quality noodles at home without the right tools and equipment.

How can you beat that?

Using Raoh’s shoyu flavour will help you achieve this easily. This is top-notch ramen hands down!

One pinnacle of instant noodles is the soy sauce flavor. It is expensive compared to regular ones but let me tell you, it deserves every single penny.

In a nutshell, I loved every bit of it.

...And I am sure you will too.

3. The problem here is that no toppings come with these packets.

Here are some topping options and recipes for you.

4. Have you ever faced these issues...

A lack of large, high-quality soup bowl sets at home?

Are you still struggling with...

😢 ...small bowls that aren’t large enough for soups, noodles and toppings.

😢 ...spillage every time you eat out of your bowl.

😢 ...low-quality tableware and utensils that don’t compliment your food.

Look no further, 

Our best-selling bowls are here to fix all the issues you face with small, inefficient tableware.

After struggling with spillage and leakage during dinner time, 

We decided to introduce APEX S.K’s large soup bowls to the market.

Want to hear why some people absolutely love our ramen bowls?

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About the Author

Kei is a self-proclaimed ramen lover, blog writer and founder of "Apex S.K. Japanese tableware".

"I am from Ibaraki, Japan.

Ramen is great! It can bring you a sense of happiness and satisfaction that no other food can. I have been eating ramen for 30 years.

If there is no ramen, my life would be miserable.

Ten years ago, I worked as an office worker. The job was really stressful - excessive working hours, low wages, unpaid overtime work, and constantly being yelled at by my boss.

I was new and alone, no girlfriend, no friends, and felt very lonely.

My only oasis was the ramen shop near the office. For me, the ramen chef there was literally an angel. I saw a halo on his head. (No joke)

Tonkotsu shoyu ramen was my all-time favorite. He made ramen with broth chock-full of umami flavor, nice chewy handmade noodles, and tender chashu.

My greatest dream is connect people with ramen through my blog. I want to share a lot of interesting and funny stories and ramen trivia with you.

Knowing more about ramen can help you appreciate your ramen and make it taste extra delicious."

Did you know that we offer more than just a ramen blog?

We also have an exclusive collection of ramen-inspired t-shirts and hoodies that any true noodle lover will adore.

Head over to ApexRamen and check it out for yourself

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