Chashu Pork (Marinated Braised Pork Belly)

Ramen is my current obsession, with pork ramen being my favourite, and the most important topping for a good pork ramen is melt in your mouth chashu, aka Japanese marinated braised pork belly. Chashu is pretty easy to make, though it does take some time, and it’s well worth it! You simply roll a pork belly and tie it up before slowly braising it in a sweet and salty marinade until the pork get so nice and tender and good! The marinade typically consists of soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar along with garlic, ginger and onions for seasoning. The best, and easiest, way to cook the pork belly is to slowly braise it at a low temperature in the oven for several hours. Because the pork will be so moist and tender after braising it’s a good idea to let it cool completely so that you can more easily slice it for serving in your bowl of ramen! Whenever you make chashu make sure to keep the marinade with all of the pork juices in it for other things like marinating ramen eggs!

Melt in your mouth marinated braised pork belly is the perfect topping for tonkotsu ramen!

Reheat by simmering the slices in some of the reserved braising juices or broiling!

I tried cooking the chashu pork sous-vide style to compare and it turned out a little moister and more tender but it had absorbed less of the marinades flavour. In the photo below the one on the left was the once cooked in the sous-vide and the one on the right was braised in the oven.