- 2 days ago
In this video, I will show you how to make real ramen-shop chashu at home, the melting spiral of pork belly that beats the packaged, mass-produced kind. This is the complete guide, from rolling the belly all the way to a finished bowl of ramen.
🖨 PRINT FULL RECIPE: https://sudachirecipes.com/ramen-chashu-recipe/
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✨My First Printed Cookbook: https://amzn.to/4j512pZ
🧰Cooking Tools I Use: https://sudachirecipes.com/japanese-cooking-tools/
📌 RECIPE DETAILS:
⏰ Time: 14 hours 20 minutes total (Prep 10 minutes, Cook 2 hours 10 minutes, Marinating 12 hours)
👥 Servings: 6 portions
🥕 Ingredients:
Pork
- 700 g skinless pork belly slab (clean fat-lean layers)
Blanching and aromatics
- 50 g Japanese leek (naganegi), green tops only: https://sudachirecipes.com/negi/
- 25 g ginger root, sliced thick
- 3 cloves garlic, whole, peeled, lightly crushed
- 100 g onion, rough-chopped: https://sudachirecipes.com/tamanegi/
- 1 tsp unseasoned rice vinegar (komezu): https://sudachirecipes.com/japanese-rice-vinegar/
Marinade
- 250 ml pork broth (reserved from the braise pot at the 1 hour 50 minute mark)
- 4 tbsp sake: https://sudachirecipes
🖨 PRINT FULL RECIPE: https://sudachirecipes.com/ramen-chashu-recipe/
📖 GET MY FREE COOKBOOK: https://sudachi.kit.com/5c166f80ba
✨My First Printed Cookbook: https://amzn.to/4j512pZ
🧰Cooking Tools I Use: https://sudachirecipes.com/japanese-cooking-tools/
📌 RECIPE DETAILS:
⏰ Time: 14 hours 20 minutes total (Prep 10 minutes, Cook 2 hours 10 minutes, Marinating 12 hours)
👥 Servings: 6 portions
🥕 Ingredients:
Pork
- 700 g skinless pork belly slab (clean fat-lean layers)
Blanching and aromatics
- 50 g Japanese leek (naganegi), green tops only: https://sudachirecipes.com/negi/
- 25 g ginger root, sliced thick
- 3 cloves garlic, whole, peeled, lightly crushed
- 100 g onion, rough-chopped: https://sudachirecipes.com/tamanegi/
- 1 tsp unseasoned rice vinegar (komezu): https://sudachirecipes.com/japanese-rice-vinegar/
Marinade
- 250 ml pork broth (reserved from the braise pot at the 1 hour 50 minute mark)
- 4 tbsp sake: https://sudachirecipes
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00This spiral pug is a chashu on every great bowl of ramen and you can make it at home.
00:06Put it belly slab dry, roll it tight, tie it, slice it cold and the same beautiful
00:12spiral appears every time. Pat 700 grams of skinless pug belly dry and lay it flat
00:18that side down. Run shallow vertical cuts across the surface at 1cm intervals
00:24just deep enough to score it so the slab rolls without fighting back.
00:30As you roll it into a tight cylinder, press the spiral down at every turn so no air pockets run
00:36along the fascia. To secure it, you can use a meat net, which is the quickest and easiest option,
00:42but today I'm going to show you the more traditional method, tying it with butcher's twine.
00:49Start by wrapping the twine around one end and tie a few knots to secure it.
00:57Hold the longer side straight, then twist it around your fingers to make a loop.
01:03Pull the rest of the twine through the loop to make a slip knot and slide it under the pug
01:09about 2
01:10cm or 1 inch away from the first knot. Pull it until it's tightly around the pug,
01:17but not so tight that it bulges all cuts. The slip knot should be in line with the first knot.
01:26Repeat these steps for the entire length of the pug.
01:29And one quick answer to the question everyone asks. Do you really have to tie or net the roll?
01:36Yes, if you want to keep the spiral without the tension, the roll and coils,
01:40and you get a loose tangle of belly strips instead of a clean cylinder.
01:46The spiral chashu you see in good ramen shops is not hard, it's just slow,
01:51and what you build at home sits on a completely different level than the packaged,
01:56mass-produced chashu sold on a shelf in Japan.
02:00No matter where you live, you can make ramen shop chashu in your own kitchen,
02:04as long as you can get pork belly block.
02:08When you get to the end, pull the twine over the swirl and across the base.
02:13You can cut the twine now, about 3 times longer than the pug.
02:17I'm just going to weave it underneath and tie another knot on each line.
02:22This keeps everything in place.
02:24Then pull it back to the top and tie it together with overhang from the first knot.
02:31This tight cylinder is the whole trick.
02:33Slice it cold later and every piece shows the ramen shop's barrel of lean and fat.
02:39That is your first milestone and you're already past the hardest part.
02:46Place it inside the deep pot and pour in cold water until it is almost fully submerged.
02:52Start cold, not hot. You would expect to drop pork into boiling water, but we will not,
02:58because the slow rise pulls blood and protein out.
03:02Bring it up of medium heat and hold it just below a simmer,
03:06around 85 to 95 degrees Celsius for 5 to 6 minutes.
03:12Watch the grey-brown foam climb and skim it patiently.
03:17The first 2 minutes of foam is where most of the pork smell lives, so do not skip this.
03:23When the foam stops coming in any real volume, pull the pork out and rinse it under the cold running
03:30water. That is the wash done and any odors went down the drain with it.
03:36At the same time, bring a second clean pot of water up of medium heat to roughly the same range.
03:43Heating fresh water to around 60 to 70 degrees Celsius before the pork goes in matters,
03:48because cold to hot or hot to cold is thermal wet blush.
03:53This time, warm water keeps the surface calm and lets the collagen start its long conversion
03:59without a sudden contraction.
04:01While you wait, prep your aromatics.
04:04Once the water hits the zone, slide the rinsed pork in and turn the heat to low.
04:11Drop in the green tops of the naganegi leek.
04:14Add about half of a roughly chopped onion.
04:19About 25 grams of thickly sliced ginger.
04:23Drop in 3 whole peeled garlic cloves.
04:27And finish with a small splash of rice vinegar.
04:30The negi and onion are here to pull out any lingering pork smell, not to flavour the table.
04:36And the rice vinegar works on that smell without touching the finished taste.
04:42Set a droplet right on the surface of the liquid.
04:46Carve the gap with a pot lid if you like.
04:48And simmer on low for 1 hour.
04:52Here's the single most important line in this whole recipe.
04:56Never let this come to a rolling boil.
04:58The zone is 80 to 85 degrees Celsius.
05:02Tiny bubbles rising from the bottom.
05:04The surface barely shimmering under the droplet.
05:07That is the first hour done.
05:10Lift the droplet and flip the roll over so the other side is now submerged.
05:16The part of the meat above the liquid line dries faintly.
05:20So flipping one splits the thyme evenly and cooks the cylinder through.
05:26At this point, we're also going to ladle out 250ml of braising liquid and set it aside.
05:33It is okay if the pork is not fully submerged.
05:37But if more than a third of it is exposed, top the pot up with a little water.
05:44Replace the droplet and braise another hour at the same gentle temperature.
05:49Now build the marinade in a separate saucepan.
05:53Pour in the braising liquid you just reserved.
05:57Add 4 tablespoons of sake, 4 tablespoons of mirin, and 1.5 tablespoons of light brown sugar.
06:05Stir in 1 tablespoon of honey.
06:08Now the star knees.
06:10This one is love or hate.
06:12If you love it, add a whole piece.
06:14If you're on the fence, break off just a quarter for a softer lift.
06:19If you're not a fan, skip it.
06:21Bring it to a gentle boil for about 1 minute, just until the raw alcohol smoke cooks off.
06:27And keep your nose all over the pot because it burns off faster than you expect.
06:32Turn off the heat.
06:33Then add 125ml of Japanese soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce.
06:40And mix.
06:41It kills me to use this much soy sauce in one dish, but don't worry.
06:46I'll show you how to repurpose the marinade so that nothing is wasted.
06:52Okay, our second hour is up, so turn off the heat under the main pot,
06:56lift the rollout, and slide it into a large zip-top bag.
07:00Pour the contents of the saucepan into the bag along with another 25g of sliced ginger.
07:06Then press the air out as you seal it.
07:09Full contact between the liquid and the meat is the whole point of marinating it in the bag,
07:14rather than soaking it in a pot.
07:16Let the sealed bag cool on the counter until it is just warm to the touch.
07:21Then move it to the fridge and marinate for at least 12 hours, ideally overnight.
07:28Then strain the pork broth into a container.
07:30We'll keep this in the fridge too.
07:32And that is the end of day 1.
07:35The next morning, pour the fully chilled roll out the bag and save that marinade.
07:41Do not throw it out because half of a bowl of ramen is hiding in it.
07:46Cut off the twine or slider of the meat net and slice with a sharp knife.
07:51Cold is non-negotiable here.
07:54A warm roll falls apart on the knife and you lose the spiral.
07:58Look at that.
07:59Every slice shows the same spiral of lean and fat.
08:03Got them about a half centimetre thick.
08:05The standard ramen shop slice.
08:08The best balance of sauce grip and pork flavour.
08:11If you're eating on rice or simply want a meatier bite, you can go a touch over a centimetre.
08:18The ragged end pieces are not waste.
08:21They go straight into chahan or chashudon.
08:25For storage, sandwich each piece in between a piece of parchment paper so that they don't stick together,
08:32and stack them into an airtight storage container to protect them from freezer burn.
08:38It freezes well for one month to reheat,
08:42throw it naturally in the fridge, then drop it into hot broth or heat it with a torch.
08:48Now the part you do not want to waste.
08:50After two hours of braising, you have three things, not one.
08:54You have the chashudon.
08:55You have the braising liquid, which is a pork stock full of collagen and umami.
09:01And you have the marinade, which after 12 hours with the pork is essentially an 80% done ramen tare.
09:10Most chashudon recipes stop at the slice.
09:13We're going all the way to the bowl.
09:15So let us build an actual bowl of ramen from the leftovers.
09:20First, transform the marinade into a kaishi.
09:23Pour all of it into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until it's just below a simmer,
09:29around 85 degrees to 90 degrees celsius.
09:33Small bubbles starting, but never a rolling boil.
09:37Skim the small amount of pork protein that coagulates,
09:40then add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and a quarter teaspoon of salt.
09:45Drop it low for 10 minutes, turn off the heat, cover it,
09:49let it come back to room temperature, and refrigerate.
09:52Now we have a kaishi that can be used instead of tare.
09:58Heat 250ml of the pork broth in a small saucepan of medium,
10:03targeting 80 to 85 degrees celsius, small bubbles just around the edges.
10:08Warm the serving bowl with hot water, then pour it out, and add 4 tablespoons of the kaishi.
10:16Now, ladle the hot broth into the bowl, stir it with the kaishi, and taste with a spoon.
10:22Adjust with a splash of soy or a pinch of salt.
10:25This soup runs noticeably sweeter than a regular shoyu ramen, because the chashu marinade is sweet.
10:32So, tune the sweetness to your taste, and salinity shifts from batch to batch.
10:39Pour the noodles in power roll, bring at least 1.5 litres of water to a boil, and cook one
10:45portion,
10:45120 to 150 grams of medium thick ramen noodles, about 15 to 20 seconds earlier than the package stays,
10:53because they keep cooking in the hot bowl.
10:56Shake the noodles dry with 2 or 3 firm shakes, and do not rinse them with cold water.
11:02Lower the noodles into the bowl, then layer the toppings.
11:06The beautiful slices of chashu, a seasoned egg, naruto maki fish cake, menma, a couple of sheets of nori,
11:15and a scatter of thinly sliced green onions.
11:18And this is my ramen chashu. This is what a sandwich lover pork belly looks like turned into a full
11:24ramen bowl.
11:26Make this tonight! Google ramen chashu statue for the full, printful recipe, with exact measurements and timing.
11:34Want even more delicious recipes? Grab my free cookbook from the link in the description.
11:40Okay, let's go over the ingredients one more time, and if you're ready to cook,
11:44grab the written instructions by clicking the full recipe box with a picture that's about to pop up on your
11:49screen.
11:51Includes exact measurements, every timing, and notes for getting each step right.
11:56Next time, I'm making shoyu ramen. See you then!
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