This tender and juicy, melt-in-your-mouth chashu pork recipe is the perfect way to enjoy pork belly. Once you’ve had pork belly chashu style, you will never have it any other way.
If you have ever had chashu ramen, you would know just how absolutely delicious it is! Here, we will show you how to make a Japanese chashu pork dish in the comfort of your kitchen.
What is chashu?
Chashu is Japanese braised pork that has been simmering in a sweet and savory soy sauce broth. Traditionally chashu is added on top of ramen but it can also be eaten on top of rice called chashu don.
What cut of pork is chashu?
Chashu is made from pork belly. A fatty layered cut of pork with a lot of flavors.
Is chashu Japanese or Chinese?
Chashu originated from Japan. Although other cultures like China have their version of braised pork belly, chashu comes from Japan.
What ingredients do I need and how do you make this chashu pork recipe?
- Pork Belly – skinless, 1-2 inches in width works best.
- Salt – table salt or sea salt.
- Neutral Cooking Oil – high temp neutral cooking oil such as vegetable oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil.
- Ginger – unpeeled and sliced.
- Jalapeno – optional but gives it a little spice.
- Garlic Cloves – grated using a hand grater.
- Japanese Sake – use Japanese cooking sake which is fairly inexpensive and can be found in most Asian supermarkets.
- Soy Sauce – low sodium is preferred. For gluten free you can use tamari or coconut aminos.
- Sweetener – use your preferred sweetener.
- Green Onions – used for garnish.
Add braising liquid ingredients to a large pot or dutch oven and simmer. Sear pork belly on a cast iron pan then transfer into braising liquid pot and cook covered for 1 hour. Skim off the foam while cooking.
After 1 hour has passed, remove lid, increase heat to medium-high and cook for approximately 15-20 minutes to thicken up the liquid.
Make sure to watch closely and avoid burning. Tip: Add peeled, hard boiled eggs into the braising liquid for flavorful ramen eggs.
What is the nutrition information for this pork belly chashu recipe?
- 357 Calories
- 1g Carbohydrates
- 1g Fiber
- 7g Protein
- 36g Fat
- 49mg Cholesterol
- 268mg Sodium
- 138mg Potassium
- 5mg Calcium
- 1mg Iron
- 19ui Vitamin A
- 1mg Vitamin C
Looking for other Japanese pork recipes?
- Japanese Tonkatsu Pork Cutlet
- Pork Shabu Shabu in a Bowl
- Japanese Pork Ginger
- Japanese Braised Pork Belly
- Japanese Pork Belly Salad
Now, let’s get making this Chashu Pork Belly recipe!
- Prepping Time 10M
- Cook Time 1H15M
- Total Time 1H25M
- Net Carb/Serv 0g
- Servings 4
Ingredients
- 3 lb Pork Belly (1-2 inch in width works best)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Neutral Cooking Oil (no taste)
- 1 Inch of Ginger
- 1/4 Whole Jalapeno
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 2/3 Cup Water
- 1/3 Cup Japanese sake
- 1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Sweetener (sugar alternative, sugar or preferred sweetener)
- 2 Stalk Green Onions
Directions
1) Gather all the ingredients.
2) Cut pork belly into 4 inch length by 1-2 inch thickness as shown below. Rub salt onto all sides of the pork belly and set aside.
3) Thinly slice jalapeno and ginger, set aside.
4) Grind garlic with a grinder or a garlic press and set side.
5) In a medium sized stove top pot, add water, Japanese sake, Soy Sauce, sweetener, sliced ginger, sliced jalapeno, grated garlic and place on low heat.
6) In the meantime, add cooking oil into a cast iron pan and bring up to temp. Note – cast iron pan gets very hot, so please where mitts if you need to handle the pan. Once up to temperature, carefully add pork belly. Sear all 4 sides for 1 minute per side. Once seared, transfer to a holding plate.
7) Now bring sauce in medium sized stove top pot from step 5) to a boil. Once boiling, add seared pork belly inside. Reduce to low heat, partially cover and cook for 1 hour. Just make sure to mix around every now and then to avoid burning the bottom.
8) In the meantime, slice green onions and set aside.
9) After 1 hour has passed, remove the cover and raise heat to medium-low. Cook for an extra 10-15 minutes to reduce the sauce. Keep an eye on this as this can burn very easily.
10) Once most of the sauce is reduced, remove from heat. Slice pork belly long ways and transfer to serving plate. Garnish with green onions and enjoy!
Hope you enjoy your Chashu Pork Belly!
If you’re looking for other recipe ideas, be sure to check out our growing Recipe Index full of healthy Asian inspired recipes!
Join us on Facebook to be part of our interactive discussions & recipe requests and follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, or subscribe to our New Recipe Notification and be the first to know when we post a new recipe!
Chashu Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Pork Belly 1-2 inch in width works best
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Neutral Cooking Oil no taste
- 1 Inch Ginger
- 1/4 Whole Jalapeno
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 2/3 Cup Water
- 1/3 Cup Japanese sake
- 1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Sweetener sugar alternative, sugar or preferred sweetener
- 2 Stalk Green Onions
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Cut pork belly into 4 inch length by 1-2 inch thickness as shown below. Rub salt onto all sides of the pork belly and set aside.
- Thinly slice ginger and jalapeno. Set aside.
- Grind garlic with a grinder or a garlic press and set side.
- In a medium sized stove top pot, add water, Japanese sake, Soy Sauce, sweetener , sliced ginger, sliced jalapeno, grated garlic and place on low heat.
- In the meantime, add cooking oil into a cast iron pan and bring up to temp. Once up to temperature, carefully add pork belly. Sear all 4 sides for 1 minute per side. Once seared, transfer to a holding plate.
- Now bring sauce in medium sized stove top pot from step 5) to a boil. Once boiling, add seared pork belly inside. Reduce to low heat and cook 7/8 the way covered for 1 hour. Just make sure to mix around every now and then to avoid burning the bottom.
- In the meantime, slice green onions and set aside.
- After 1 hour has passed, remove the cover and raise heat to medium-low. Cook for an extra 10-15 minutes to reduce the sauce. Keep an eye on this as this can burn very easily.
- Once most of the sauce is reduced, remove from heat. Slice pork belly long ways and transfer to serving plate. Garnish with green onions and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
*This page contains affiliate marketing links*
This looks delicious. What can I use in place of Sake? I can’t find it in my area at all.
Hi Dawn! This is one of our favorite dishes to make and absolutely delish! For this recipe, you probably could replace the Japanese sake for Dry Sherry Wine. I would be more hesitant to sub sake out for sauce type recipes (i.e. teriyaki), but for this one it should be ok! Let us know if you have any other questions!
I made this recipe last night. It was delicious! I did have to double the ingredients in the sauce in order to have enough to cover 3 pounds of pork belly. What size pot did you use?
Hello Marion! Glad you liked the dish! I believe the pot we used was 2 quarts, so was a pretty snug fit in there.