Chashu is a Japanese dish. It actually came from Cantonese food, Char Siu, which is very popular in Hong Kong and Guangdong, China. Both are pork dishes, but the cooking process and flavor are very different. Chashu uses simmer/braise process while Char Siu is barbecued pork.
With ramen everywhere in the world, you probably have tasted or at least seen Chashu which is used as one of the toppings for ramen or other Japanese noodles. That’s how I got to know Chashu. The fact is you can also put Chashu as a topping on your rice bowl, which is called Chashu Don (similar to Beef Don– beef on rice). This is how I use Chashu most of the time. I didn’t know there was a Chashu Don when I started cooking Chashu. While eating Chashu in a restaurant, you may run into some negative experiences; for example, the pork is undercooked, too fat, or too cold. You could get rid of all these issues by cooking it at home. In addition, the ingredients, cooking technique, and process are very simple, and the resulting dish is very tasty.
Most time Japanese Chashu is rolled pork belly without skin. Pork belly sold in our local grocers has skin. I don’t want to take the trouble to remove it. I am also too lazy to roll up the pork piece and tie it. Hence, I simply simmer the pork belly chunk in the soup. People also use pork neck to make Chashu.
To enhance flavor, Chashu pieces are seared before serving. There are different techniques to sear it. Traditionally, Japanese people use a small grill. Most restaurants use torches to save time. A lot of times, they only burn the slices for 5 seconds before serving. That’s why you could have cold Chashu at restaurants. I don’t want to buy either device, so I simply slowly pan fry them in a non-stick pan. I think this is the best way to bring up the flavor.
For families with a busy schedule, you can simmer the pork belly chunks and refrigerate them during the weekend and slice and sear it during weekdays to make a quick, tasty, and nutritious dinner. That’s why I cook it about every one or two weeks.
Japanese Chashu (Braised Pork belly)日式叉烧 チャーシュー
Equipment
- 10“ stainless steel pot
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds pork belly
- 3-4 cups water
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp mirin
- 3 tbsp rice wine
- 4-5 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 piece Kombu (3"x3", optional)
- 3 pieces dried shiitake mushrooms (optional)
Instructions
- Trim off any excess fat from the pork belly
- Cut pork belly (either with or without skin) into 4"x4" pieces. No need to be accurate
- Put the pork pieces into the pot. Add cold water into pot until it covers the pork. Put the pot on the oven top
- Turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove the pork from the water and rinse well with clean water. Rinse the pot to remove scum
- Put the pork pieces to the cleaned pot. Add kombu, sugar, salt, and shiitake. Add water to cover.
- Bring the pot to boil and simmer for 5 mins. Remove the kombu pieces. Scoop any scum. Cover the pot with the lid and continue to simmer for 50-60 mins
- Add soy sauce, mirin, and rice wine. Simmer for another 50-60 mins
- Turn off the heat. Let the pork soak in the soup for a couple of hours
- Take the pork pieces out from the pot. Refrigerate overnight until well-chilled.
- Slice the pork pieces. Pan fry the slices on both sides.
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