Ramen School 002: Three Styles of Chashu
Chashu is easily the most popular topping for ramen. Pork (usually belly) is simmered in a sweetened soy-based broth, then chilled, sliced and often grilled. This recipe shows three different styles of chashu cooked together, but of course you could just pick one style and focus on that.
Ingredients
1 kg pork belly, rolled
1 kg pork belly, unrolled
1 kg pork neck, untied
1 piece kombu
6 shiitake mushrooms
1 tsp salt
100 g sugar
150 ml soy sauce
100 ml dark soy sauce
125 ml mirin
125 ml sake
Method
Tie the pork belly in a roll. Place into pot, cover cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove the pork from the water and rinse well under running water. Rinse the pot and remove any scum.
Return the pork to the clean pot and add the kombu and shiitake mushrooms. Add water to cover, then bring to the boil, removing the kombu when the water starts to steam. Add the sugar and salt, reduce to a simmer and add a drop lid. Simmer covered for 1 hour, then add the soy sauce, mirin and sake. Simmer for a further hour.
Remove the unrolled pork belly after 90 minutes total simmering time. And the pork neck and rolled pork belly after 2 hours. Refrigerate overnight until well chilled. Slice and serve.
Top Tips for Chashu
- Don’t skip the chilling process. The chashu is very soft when cooked and will easily break apart if sliced while warm.
- You can play around with the proportions for this recipe to suit your taste, or the style of ramen you are wanting to make.
- Don’t discard the simmering liquid. It can be used to make ramen eggs (ajitama) or braising other meats.
I want to make the rolled pork belly only. Since I will need a different amount of water, do the other ingredients remain in the same proportions?
I did just the rolled, but followed the recipe as listed, and it turned out wonderful!
Hi Adam, thanks again for this one. Would you have any “per liter” proportions of seasoning to avoid “too few” or “too much” mistakes in case of big or small batches?
Hi Mr Liaw,
Thank you very much for this great ramen school !
Same request here as Ludovic and Rebecca : could you tell us in how much water do you add the seasonings so we can scale the recipe up or down according to our quantity of pork and/or the amount of water required to cover it in our pots ?
Thanks in advance and keep up the good work 🙂
I know this is quite late, but you can add as much or ass little water as you want, as long as the pork is covered. All you have to do is turn up the heat and reduce. The water will steam off well before the other ingredients.
ditto on the per liter amounts. this recipe is hard to scale without it.
Hi Adam! Which butcher shop did you get your rolled pork belly from? I find it hard to purchase the pork belly similar to your size in Australia
Any butchers will sell pork belly like this. You just have to ask them to prepare it for you. It’s just a whole piece of pork belly (one side of the pig) with the skin removed. Korean butchers are particularly good for this.
Hi Adam can you freeze the braising liquid for future use?
Hi Adam,
I have been following you on Youtube and really appreciate all the recipes you provide. My questions regarding chashu are:
1) What is the best way to keep the leftover chasiu in a fridge? Do I have to freeze it if I can’t consume that much pork?
2) How long can I keep the chashu in the fridge?
Hi Adam, which blow torch do you use ?
Good Day Adam
Done the way you showed it in the video and the pork came out really great the kids loved it. Thanks. I was wondering how long can you keep the simmering liquid in the refrigerator or should I put it in the freezer to keep it for a longer time. Thanks
Hi Adam,
thanks a lot for those excelent recipes. Can you tell me what I can do with the Liquid from the Chashu? Can it also be used as a Shoyu style Tare?
You can use it to cure ramen eggs, or use it as an ingredient in shoyu tare.
How long can the braised pork liquid stay in the fridge for :)?
Hey Adam, what would i do for the seasoning proportions if im only using one piece of meat?
Hey Adam, what would I do for the seasoning proportions if I’m only using one of the meats?
I want to buy that kind of hand-holding grill. What are they called and where can I find them?
Hey Adam!
I don’t have dark soy sauce right now. Is it all right not to add it in and to add the same amount of regular soy sauce?
Hi Adam, where do you buy your ladles? I’ve been trying to find them online and I cannot find the 10ml and 20ml ladles..
Can kombu be replaced by another ingredient?
May I use in this recipe another kind of meat? beef or chicken?
Why does one not marinate the pork belly first?
Bonjour,
My name is Marie [MUH] + [REE] I come from Canada/Province of Québec/and I live in Québec City/ We are call French Canadian…My mother tongue is French, and I apologized for my writing.
I would like to give me my best tanks for this recipe my ramen broth was white as milk and jellified perfectly. My Pork Chashu was exceptional good. Today is it my soon 23 rd. anniversary and I did ramen Tonkotsu with Tare. I promise to improve my recipes with every thing you did like they aromatic oil.
Thank you again, I know I am latte bloomer to find you …. But as I always say it is never to late to learn great recipes from greatest cook !!!
Merci beaucoup Monsieur Adam Liaw !!!
Haha, if you ate ramen in Tokyo when I was growing up, it was what was known as chuka soba or chuka ramen and it was not the modern tonkutsu ramen of 1980’s and later. It was light soy and chicken broth based and came as 50, 80 or sometimes 100 yen ramen. Very simple offering of minced green onion, menma and very thin piece of chashu. You get a half egg with more expensive ramen. People growing up in Showa period still crave this less is better style of ramen. I am so tired of all the fat ladened ramen found in some trendy places.
What exactly do you mean when you mean when you call for soy sauce and dark soy sauce? Do you mean usukuchi and koikuchi? Koikuchi and saishikomi? Maybe koikuchi and what is known in Chinese as lǎo chōu (老抽)? I just want to make sure I understand.