Everyone loves the iconic ramen topping, “Chashu”, especially, one made by rolling pork belly.
Don’t you think it’s a little troublesome to make chashu from scratch at home?
This is an “easy chashu pork” recipe, today, I am going to tell you about homemade Japanese chashu with the authentic method.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- 2.5 lb Pork belly
- Bucher’s twine
For the Chashu sauce,
- Leeks (green parts)
- 5-6 Fresh ginger, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 cup of Japanese dark soy sauce
- 2/3 cup of Japanese sake (shochu) / 2/3 cup of white wine
- 1/3 cup of Oyster sauce
- 2/3 cup of raw cane sugar
- 4 cups of water
HOW TO PREPARE PORK BELLY
- Leave the meat out to room temperature
- Pound the pork belly (tenderize the meat)
- Trim excess fat and pierce the meat on both sides with a falk or add notches.
Take out the meat about 1 hour before and leave it to room temperature to cook the meat evenly.
Place plastic wrap on the meat and pound it with a rolling pin or push the meat with fists.
Trim excess fat and pierce the meat with a flak (or add noches).
Meanwhile, season it with a pinch of salt (and black pepper optionally).
- Sear the pork belly
- Parboil the pork belly for 1 hour
To remove excess fat and add flavor, sear the pork belly in vegetable oil.
Surprisingly, this process can be expected to remove fat from the meat.
You’ll find out how much pork fat is cooked off after searing the meat in vegetable oil.
Sear the meat over medium heat with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil until it turns golden brown. (it is called the Maillard reaction which is the golden color that adds the savory flavor. )
Just be aware of splatting fat!
To remove more excess fat and scum which cause the gamey flavor in the pork, complete the preparation with parboiling although the pork belly will be cooked in the sauce later.
Place the pork belly in a large pot and cover it with enough water.
Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then, reduce the heat to low, and simmer it for 1 hour.
Just avoid cooking the meat though over high heat since it’ll be tough and dry. Also, add water to keep covering the meat all the time if needed.
Otoshibuta
Otoshibuta, aka Japanese drop lid, is already a popular cooking term among cooking enthusiasts.
It’s the cooking item to cook food effectively.
The benefits of using Otoshibuta in this recipe,
- To prevent the sauce from evaporating
- To season the ingredients evenly
- To save the cooking time
You can get an actual Otoshibuta to read this guide, or you can use kitchen paper, parchment paper, or aluminum foil.
I explain how to make Otoshibuta with kitchen paper shortly, jump to this post if needed.
EASY Japanese-Style Chashu Pork Belly
Equipment
- Bucher’s twine
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb Pork belly
- Leeks (green parts)
- 5-6 Fresh ginger, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
For CHASHU sauce
- 1 cup Japanese dark soy sauce
- ⅓ cup Oyster sauce
- ⅔ cup Japanese sake (shochu) / 1 cup of white wine
- ⅔ cup raw cane sugar
- 4 cups water
For Pork Preparation
- water
- 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
Prepare The Pork Belly
- Leave the meat out to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
- Meanwhile, place plastic wrap on the meat and pound it with a rolling pin. Season it with a pinch of salt (and black pepper optionally).
- [Sear] In a large skillet, add 2 tbsp or more vegetable oil. Sear the pork belly fat side down first until it turns a golden color over medium heat. Flip the meat side down, and continue searing until it turns a golden color.!!!Be aware of splattering oil!!!
- [Parboil] In a large pot, place the pork belly and cover it with plenty of water. Bring water to a boil over high heat and keep cooking the meat over low heat for 1 hour once the water boiled. Add water to cover the meat if needed. Drain the meat and rinse the pot lightly.
Make The Chashu Sauce
- In the pot, add sliced ginger, garlic, dark soy sauce, Japanese sake (white wine), sugar, and water. Bring them to a boil over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
Cook The Pork Belly
- Add the pork belly and place an "otoshibuta" / kitchen paper/parchment paper on the meat. You can cover the meat with a kitchen paper towel/ parchment paper/ aluminum foil.Click here for the OTOSHIBUTA guide
- Reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking for 1 hour.
- Let it sit until the sauce cools down. You can serve at this point, but, letting it sit overnight is better for 2 reasons. 1. Easy to slice2. Add more flavor
- You can make Ramen eggs with this sauce.Ramen eggs recipe
Video
Notes
How To Tie The Pork Belly (Optionally)
If you want to entertain your guest, you can roll and tie pork belly for the beautiful round-shaped Chashu.
Salt the pork belly and make a shallow cut on the meat side to roll it easier.
Place the fat side on a cutting board, find whichever thinner side, and start rolling up the meat.
Don’t forget to set aside ties before rolling the pork belly.
Honestly, you can tie it anyway unless the pork belly keeps holding the shape while cooking if you don’t know how to tie the meat with a butcher’s knot since it is not for the presentation but also need to keep the meat rolled.
Yet, I show you how to tie the meat in my way in this post, check it out later if you’d like.
Use The Chashu Sauce For Another Cooking
You’ll probably have cups of Chashu sauce after making homemade Chashu pork.
Save the sauce for another time to make the Chashu pork or use it for other cooking recipes.
I always save the sauce in the freezer after putting the sauce in a freezer bag and also put it in a container since the sauce will not be frozen completely and sometimes leaks from the bag.
Add the sauce to other dishes for season/marinade, such as
The simple and easy fried rice seasoning with the Chashu sauce. You can also add Chashu pork leftovers! Sprinkle black pepper to finish!
Add 1-2 tbsp of the sauce after adding the rice, then, continue stirring the rice with the tips that I am telling you in this post. (*Chahan recipe is also in the same post.)
It’s time to tuck into Japanese-style soul food. You’re going to love how crispy and flavorful Japanese KARAAGE CHICKEN is!
*Marinate chicken in the Chashu sauce, and coat them with rice flour.
Fry coated chicken at 320F, and double-dry them at 350F.
*4 tbsp and 2 tbsp of water for 2lb of chicken meat
“TAKIKOMI GOHAN” Japanese Seasoned Rice
TAKIKOMI GOHAN is savory Japanese mixed rice, which the rice is cooked with soup, seasonings, and vegetables.
This is one of the traditionally popular comfort food in Japan, oyster sauce in the chashu sauce gives this traditional Japanese rice rich twist.
It absolutely looks fancy, go for a party or holiday dinner.
In this recipe, I use roast pork leftovers, so! you can substitute Chashu pork!
Add 5 tbsp of the Chashu sauce instead of sake, soy sauce, and oyster sauce.