- 2 days ago
Ramen-shop chashu starts with a tight pork belly spiral, and the payoff is tender Japanese braised pork belly that slices cleanly and looks beautiful in a bowl of ramen. This recipe shows how to roll, tie, blanch, braise, marinate, and chill pork belly so every slice reveals that classic lean-and-fat swirl.
The method is careful and traditional: score the slab, roll it into a cylinder, secure it with butcher’s twine, then start cold water to draw out odor before a gentle simmer with leek, ginger, garlic, onion, and a little rice vinegar. After two hours of slow braising, the pork goes into a bag with a sweet soy-based marinade, then rests overnight for deep flavor and a better texture.
It also goes beyond the slice and turns the leftover braising liquid and marinade into the base for ramen. The bowl is built with kaeshi, hot pork broth, ramen noodles, and classic toppings like seasoned egg, narutomaki, menma, nori, and green onions.
Perfect for Japanese cooking, ramen chashu recipe searches, braised pork belly, homemade ramen toppings, and shoyu ramen style meals. A useful guide for anyone looking for ramen shop chashu at home, Japanese pork belly recipe ideas, and step-by-step ramen bowl preparation.
The method is careful and traditional: score the slab, roll it into a cylinder, secure it with butcher’s twine, then start cold water to draw out odor before a gentle simmer with leek, ginger, garlic, onion, and a little rice vinegar. After two hours of slow braising, the pork goes into a bag with a sweet soy-based marinade, then rests overnight for deep flavor and a better texture.
It also goes beyond the slice and turns the leftover braising liquid and marinade into the base for ramen. The bowl is built with kaeshi, hot pork broth, ramen noodles, and classic toppings like seasoned egg, narutomaki, menma, nori, and green onions.
Perfect for Japanese cooking, ramen chashu recipe searches, braised pork belly, homemade ramen toppings, and shoyu ramen style meals. A useful guide for anyone looking for ramen shop chashu at home, Japanese pork belly recipe ideas, and step-by-step ramen bowl preparation.
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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!