The tare system is the technical foundation of Japanese ramen production — every serious ramen shop maintains at least one dedicated tare and a separate broth. Chang's innovation was adapting this Japanese professional system to a Korean-American ingredient vocabulary: kombu and bacon for the broth base (Korean BBQ influence meeting Japanese dashi logic); a specific soy-based tare.
Momofuku's tare-based ramen broth system — a base broth flavoured at service by a concentrated tare — produces ramen of restaurant complexity accessible to the home cook who understands the separation principle: the broth carries body and base umami; the tare carries concentrated seasoning and specific flavour character; they are combined only at service. This separation is the key to ramen scalability and to the ability to produce multiple flavour profiles from a single broth.
**The kombu-bacon broth:** - Cold water + kombu (konbu) — brought to 60°C and held for 30 minutes (TJ-41 principle). The kombu removed. - Smoked bacon (not pancetta, not lardons — American smoked bacon specifically) added and simmered 30 minutes. The bacon's smoke compounds and rendered fat become the broth's characteristic. - The bacon removed; the broth is now a composite of Japanese dashi logic and American smokehouse character. [VERIFY] Chang's broth recipe. **The soy tare:** - Soy sauce, mirin, sake, reduced together. Used by the tablespoon to season each bowl of broth at service — allowing intensity adjustment without re-seasoning the broth. **The assembly:** - Hot broth in the bowl; tare added and stirred; noodles placed in; toppings — pork belly (MF-03), a slow-cooked egg (MF-04), scallion, nori.
Momofuku