Ramen Pork Chashu チャーシュー
User Reviews
4.8
Ramen Pork Chashu チャーシュー
Description
This recipe starts with seasoning and tenderizing pork belly, rolling it into a tight cylinder secured with cooking string. Browning the meat seals in fat and flavor before slow simmering in a seasoned broth combining soy sauce, sugar, sake, honey, water, scallions, garlic, and ginger. A drop lid helps infuse the pork evenly as it cooks over low heat for hours.
By simmering gently, the pork absorbs the savory and sweet sauce, becoming tender yet intact for neat slicing. The sauce is skimmed and later boiled down to a thicker consistency for glazing. The interplay of sweet honey, salty soy, and aromatics produces a sauce that coats the meat and enhances its richness.
Serve chashu as a ramen topping or as a sliced entrée accompanied by sauce. Leftover sauce can be strained and reduced, then poured over the meat for added depth. Portions of the trimmed edges make versatile additions to fried rice or stir-fries. The dish stores well refrigerated for up to a week or frozen about a month, making it suitable for meal prepping.
Notes include careful storage of both meat and sauce separately, and reuse ideas for trimmed trimmings, helping minimize waste and extend the recipe's utility beyond the initial meal.
Ingredients
- 1.8-2.2lb/0.8-1kg pork belly
- 2 tbsp neutral cooking oil generic cooking oil
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sake
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 cups water
- 2-3 scallions
- 1 knob ginger about 20g/07oz
- 2 cloves garlic
Instructions
- Leave pork belly in room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
- Salt & pepper over the pork belly. Cover with cling wrap and tenderize with a rolling pin or a meat mallet.
- Roll the pork belly into a cylindrical shape.
- Tie up the pork belly tightly with cooking string so the meat holds its shape (see the photo instruction in the post or watch the mini-movie above).
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, brown the outside of the tied pork belly all around.
- Transfer the pork belly into simmering water (not listed in the recipe. You need enough water to just cover the pork belly, (I used about 8 cups of water) and cook for one hour over low heat.
- Drain the cooking water.
- Add sugar, sake, soy sauce, water, scallions, garlic and ginger to the pot with the pork belly bring to boil then turn the heat down to low. Place a drop lid (otoshibuta) over the pork belly and simmer for one hour.
- Skim scum off the cooking sauce at times and rotate the pork belly sometimes too.
- After one hour, turn the heat off and leave the pork belly in the cooking sauce. *1
- After the pork belly and the sauce cool down, refrigerate it overnight.
- Take the pork belly out of the pot and cut the twine to remove carefully.
- Slice the chashu 0.2 inch (5mm) wide and serve as ramen topping or store for later use. *2
Notes
- Store sliced chashu wrapped in cling wrap and sealed in a ziplock; keeps up to 1 week refrigerated or 4 weeks frozen.
- Drain and strain cooking sauce, then reduce to a glaze for serving; sauce stores 1 week refrigerated or 1 month frozen.
- Trimmed pork edges can be chopped and used in fried rice or stir-fries to avoid waste.
- Remove fat and discard aromatics if serving chashu as a standalone dish.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 16slices
Amount Per Serving
Calories 362 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 362kcal | 18% |
| Carbohydrates | 7g | 2% |
| Protein | 6g | 12% |
| Fat | 33g | 51% |
| Saturated Fat | 12g | 60% |
| Cholesterol | 45mg | 15% |
| Sodium | 328mg | 14% |
| Potassium | 142mg | 3% |
| Sugar | 5g | 10% |
| Vitamin A | 55IU | 1% |
| Vitamin C | 1.2mg | 1% |
| Calcium | 8mg | 1% |
| Iron | 0.5mg | 3% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.8
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