Chashu

Chashu or Japanese braised pork belly is usually served thinly sliced and lightly charred. It's gently cooked in a sweet and savory braising liquid until super tender but still juicy and flavorful. A must have topping in a bowl of ramen along with ajitama (ramen eggs)! Chashu is actually incredibly easy to make and the leftover braising liquid is also very versatile and perfect for stir frying and other uses.

Jump to:

• What is chashu?
• Ingredients needed
• How to make chashu
• What to do with the leftover braising liquid?
• Storage
• Reheating
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Feedback

What is chashu?

Chashu is essentially a Japanese adaptation of the char siu, aka Chinese BBQ roast pork. Unlike Chinese roast pork, which has a different flavor and is roasted, chashu is braised in a soy-based sweet and savory braising liquid.

After braising, chashu is (usually) chilled then cut into thin slices and often served on ramen and also in rice bowls or on the side with some reduced braising liquid.

Ingredients needed

Please scroll down to the recipe card for the ingredient quantities!

• Pork belly - We recommend using skinless pork belly for the most tender texture. If you prefer, you could leave the skin on. It'll just give your chashu a slightly chewier texture. It's also good to choose a piece of pork belly with a good ratio of fat to lean meat for best flavor. Lastly, choose a piece of pork belly that's even in thickness so that the chashu will be the same size and also for the cooking time.
• Water, soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar - These ingredients are what's needed for the sweet and savory braising liquid. The sake really helps with getting rid of unwanted porky flavor and smell.
• Negi, ginger, garlic - These three aromatics makes the chashu extra fragrant and flavorful. Negi is also known as Japanese tall green onions. If you can't find it, you can use either leek tops or a few stalks of green onions instead.

How to make chashu

Please scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe and instructions!

Prep and braise:

1. Roll and tie the pork belly. Roll the pork belly longways into a tight long and wrap butcher's twine around the entire length of the log. Tie the twine to secure the pork belly log. This is so that the chashu can keep its shape while cooking.

🌟 Pro tip: Make sure to use a pot that's just wide enough to fit the pork belly log. If the pot is too wide, the braising liquid won't reach high enough. You can also cut the pork belly in half before rolling if the pork belly is too long to fit in your pot.

2. Blanch the pork belly. Place the pork belly log into a pot and fill with enough water to cover.

Bring to a boil then remove the pork belly and pat dry with paper towels. Discard water. This step removes impurity and meat scum, which will make the chashu taste cleaner.

3. Sear the pork belly. In a nonstick pan over medium high heat, sear the blanched pork belly until golden brown all around. Searing the pork belly adds a subtle caramelized flavor. No oil is needed since pork belly is so fatty already.

4. Braise the pork belly. Place the seared pork belly into a pot along with braising liquid ingredients and aromatics.

Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has dissovled, soak a sheet of paper towel in the briasing liquid and drape it over the pork belly. This keeps the pork belly moist as it's braising.

Keep the braising liquid at a gentle simmer and cook for 2 hours for tender chashu with a slight bite or 3 hour for a super tender, completely melt in your mouth chashu. Rotate the pork every 30 mintues.

🌟 Pro tip: When the braising liquid reduces to less than half way under the pork belly log, add a bit more water. Repeat as needed until the last 30 minutes of braising.

Cool, cut, and serve:

5. Chill. After braising, transfer the pork belly log into a vacuum bag and strain the braising liquid. Discard the aromatics and add about 1 cup of the liquid to the bag. vacuum seal and let it cool in a bowl of ice water. Once cooled to at least room temperature, refrigerate the pork for at least 4 hours or overnight to let it firm up. The remaining braising liquid can be saved for other uses (see the next topic).

🌟 Pro tip: If you don't have a food vacuum machine, you can still do it with just a resealable bag and a bowl of water! Simply place the pork and braising liquid into the bag and seal it half way. Place the bag into the bowl of water and slowly push the bag further down to let the water pressure push out as much air as possible. Seal the bag.

6. Cut. Remove the chilled braised pork from the bag and remove the butcher's twine. Use a sharp knife and cut the pork belly into thin slices no thicker than ⅛ inch (about 3mm).

You can reheat it in a hot broth or pan sear it in a hot pan or torch it using a kitchen blow torch, which either methods would give the chashu its iconic char. Enjoy over hot rice or a bowl of ramen!

What to do with the leftover braising liquid?

The leftover braising liquid is super flavorful and can be as a marinade, a soup base, for stir fries and more. You can skim the excess fat off the top of the braising liquid before use to make the flavor cleaner. Here are some of our favorite ways to use it:

• Soup base - We like use the braising liquid as our broth base for ramens and noodles and add stocks or bone broths to dilute. It's super flavorful!
• Stir fry - Perfect for cleaning out your fridge! We like to marinate our proteins like how we do it in our chicken and broccoli and beef and broccoli before pan searing to keep the protein tender and juicy. Then stir fry with any vegetables we have and finish it with the braising liquid. If needed, drizzle in some cornstarch slurry (1 to 1 ratio cornstarch to cold water) to thicken the sauce.
• Fried rice - Instead of regular fried rice seasoning, use the braising liquid to season your fried rice. If needed, you can reduce the braising liquid further to make it more concentrated so that your rice doesn't become soggy.
• As a marinade - Instead of making ajitama (ramen eggs) from scratch, you can soak soft boiled eggs in the marinade overnight

Storage

Chashu can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Make sure to let it cool completely before refrigerating. If you have a food vacuum, this is the most preferred storing method.

If you cannot use up all the chashu within 4 days, they also freeze very well! We recommend cutting the chashu log into 2 to 4 portions then wrap and freeze in an airtight container. This way, you can thaw as much as you'll need instead of the entire log. Chashu can be kept frozen for 2 to 3 months.

The braising liquid can be refrigerated in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 4 months. Perfect for when you need a quick flavorful sauce for marinating or stir frying!

Reheating

The best way to reheat chashu is directly in some hot braising liquid or the broth you'll be serving in (if there's broth) after cutting it into thin slices. You can also reheating it by torching it with a kitchen blow torch, which will heat it up and give it the iconic char.

If your chashu was frozen, make sure to allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight then cut it into thin slices.

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