Chashu Pork is a tender, melt-in-your-mouth marinated and rolled pork belly that is braised in a super flavorful mix of sweetened soy sauce and is a traditional topping for your ramen. 

Chashu Pork Belly Recipe

Since we’re going all out on this bowl of ramen in our not-too-distant future, we might as well REALLY go all out and whip up a little batch of Chashu Pork to top that bowl of wonder. 

This recipe is a conglomeration of about 10 different versions of this that I’ve found all over the interwebs. The end result was a tender, delicious piece of pork belly that was the perfect topping for my bowl of tonkotsu ramen. 

Ramen Week

Welcome to RAMEN week! If you haven’t been following along so far, earlier this week we made homemade tonkotsu pork broth, and homemade ramen noodles too. 

Those posts plus this one are leading up to the grand finale, a piping hot bowl of homemade Spicy Tonkotsu Miso Ramen.

Do I need special ingredients or equipment to make chashu pork?

This recipe doesn’t require any crazy ingredients, but you might not have sake and mirin laying around if you aren’t into making Asian-inspired dishes on the reg. You can pick up sake in most major grocery stores these days.

Otherwise, all normal stuff! 

If you get a larger piece of pork belly that I had and want to tie it up properly, I highly recommend checking out this amazing post from the Chopstick Chronicles! 

Tips for making tender chashu pork belly

Chashu pork is really easy to make, but you DO need to pay attention when it is braising.

You want it at the tender point, and not overcooked because it can dry out if you leave it too long. So just start checking for tenderness at about the 2-hour mark, and check every 30 minutes or so to make sure it is progressing as you’d expect it to. Low and slow is the key here!

What else can I do with the marinade?

I am SO glad you asked because this stuff is like liquid gold. Save it for your marinated soft-boiled eggs that are going to give your homemade ramen ANOTHER authentic boost. To make the ajitsuke tamago, soft boil 1 egg per serving of Ramen for 4:30 seconds at a light simmer. 

When the eggs are done, transfer to a bowl of ice water and let them cool completely. Once cool, peel the eggs and place them into the marinade. Place a paper towel on top of the whole thing. It’ll soak up the marinade and make sure the eggs get every side soaked properly without a bunch of manual turning. They should marinate for 4-5 hours ideally. 

Once they are ready to serve, you can place them into your bowl of ramen and let the hot ramen broth reheat them. 

WORD OF CAUTION a.k.a. don’t put eggs in the shell in the microwave

If you start peeling your soft boiled eggs and realize that you didn’t cook them enough, DO NOT DECIDE TO JUST STICK THEM IN THE MICROWAVE FOR A LITTLE MINUTE TO FINISH THEM OFF. 

Don’t do it. 

Did you know that the egg yolk cooks at a different speed than the white does in the microwave?

Did you also know that an egg can EXPLODE when you cut it in this case?

Cause I do. 

It is not pretty, and it could’ve been reallllllllly bad and resulted in some not fun burns, but I lucked out and learned that lesson the hard, but thankfully NOT painful way. 

DUH. 

We all have our moments. That was not one of my best ones!