Chashu is a dish made of fattier cuts of pork that are braised over low heat for a very long time. The low, slow cooking, renders out the fat while turning the tough collagen in the meat into gelatin, which keeps the meat moist while making it meltingly tender.
If you're thinking the name sounds an awful lot like the Chinese barbecued pork dish Char Siu, you'd be right, because at some point in the past, they were one and the same. Chashu is often served atop another dish that also originated in China: ramen. Like its noodle-y brethren, it's evolved over the past century to the point where it bears little resemblance to the original dish it was based on.
In the hyper-competitive world of ramen in Japan, each shop jealously guards its secret Chashu formula. Revealing these secrets is the kind of offense that will have a dozen masked men in black ninja suits at your door to make you "disappear" in the middle of the night.🥷🏻
Such is my addiction to this luscious dish that I've set aside all concerns about personal safety to recreate Santouka Ramen's famed "toroniku" Chashu, which can best be described as savory butter with bits of tender pork suspended inside. It literally melts into a pool of flavor on your tongue, and easily makes the list of things I'd want to have in my last meal.
The trick is to use pork cheek instead of the usual pork shoulder or belly that most people use for Chashu. If you've never tried it before, pork cheek is porcine perfection, taking the best qualities of a tasty cut, like shoulder, and marbling in a lattice of fat between the pink strands meat. When braised, the pieces of meat are almost imperceptibly suspended in a mesh of fat that instantly liquefies when it enters your warm mouth. Pork cheeks vary in size; these were about a half pound each.
For the braising liquid, I used a combination of soy sauce and miso. It's not a particularly orthodox approach to Chashu making, but I'm pretty sure it's what Santouka does. To bring my version full circle to its Chinese roots, I've also added garlic, ginger, and white pepper, which give the meat some character without overwhelming its porky goodness.
I serve this over my home-made tonkotsu ramen, but it's also great on top of rice, or in fried rice; I've even been know to add it to pastas or a Banh Mi or two.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a pot large enough to accommodate the pork in one layer but small enough so the liquid more or less covers the pork. Partially cover with a lid and simmer over medium low heat for one hour, or until a fork easily passes through the meat. Allow the pork to cool in the braising liquid then remove the meat from the liquid. Wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator (this makes it easier to slice).
- Slice the Chashu hinly against the grain and serve on top of ramen (the heat from the soup should warm it up). This is also great sliced a little thicker and warmed up on top of a bowl of rice with a little of the braising liquid drizzled on top.
Drew Liscomb says
Many thanks again, Marc, for your very tasty and well-explained recipes!
Can you give us a measurement for the ginger in grams? The organic ginger here is a bit ... spindly.
Kind regards,
Drew
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Drew, sorry about that, this is a really old recipe. It's just weighed some ginger and it's about 25 grams.
Drew Liscomb says
These were great, Marc!
#noobalert
I got 4 "jowls" from our local butcher, but they didn't look anything like that.
I trimmed a lot of solid fat from the outside, but it seems to me that I left a bunch on that is missing in your picture.
Can you talk a bit about how you trimmed the cheek?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Drew, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! These came trimmed this way, but it's fine leaving a fat cap on one side which will also help keep the meat moist and makes it a bit more like pork belly.
Christine Ly Nguyen says
Made this last night for my spicy dipping miso ramen and the chasu was so good! Thank you so much for this recipe !
Adam says
Mmm. I just got pork cheeks in order to try this!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Amy, the preparation and flavor is totally different (it's braised instead of grilled) but Chashu is based on the Chinese Charsiu (BBQed pork). It can be made with a number of different cuts, but it's typically rolled and tied so that the slices are round. Kakuni on the other hand literally means "cubed and simmered", and is made by cutting pork belly into cubes and simmering in a sauce.
Amy Kimoto Kahn says
Hi Marc. Can you please tell me the main difference between "chashu" and "kakuni"? Is it that "kakuni" refers to just pork belly and that "chashu" can be made from any fattier part of the pork?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Superelastic, there's no tahini in this recipe, so I'm assuming you're referring to my Tonkotsu ramen? If so, Tonkotsu ramen is a different style of ramen (from the southern island of Japan) from miso ramen (from the northern island of Japan) and does not include miso. I do have a recipe for a miso flavored Tonkotsu here https://norecipes.com/tonkotsu-miso-ramen-recipe/
As for the tahini, you're right it is a middle eastern in ingredient, but it's the closest thing to nerigoma you can get in the US and has a fairly similar flavor. The difference is that nerigoma is made with whole sesame seeds (including the hull), tahini is made with only the kernel inside the hull of the sesame seed. It's there to add creaminess and richness as well as a little flavor, so I would not recommend leaving it out.
superelastic says
I am making my first attempt at this right now...it's very exciting and I want to thank you so much for sharing.
One question, if you would be so kind. I had Santouka's "Miso Ramen" a few weeks ago. I assume miso is a fundamental ingredient, and yet you use tahini. Would I be off-base to use miso paste instead of tahini? I was always under the impression that tahini was a middle-eastern thing, not Japanese. Thanks again.
thisisthestorm says
I am now hungry and distracted.
Oh wait, I'm always hungry and distracted.
some body says
real boring now lol
some body says
so whats up guys what are we talking about food ? lol jkn
some body says
but it looks good
some body says
wawa
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Yohan, Japanese chashu doesn't use the skin (you can't buy pork belly with skin-on here), that said, as long as you cook it long enough (to tenderize the skin) I don't see why you couldn't leave it on.
Yohan Sinha says
Hi Marc,
if I were to use the belly should I keep the skin on when cooking?
thanks
changu420 says
In Europe you can try to find Iberico park cheeks from Spain. I know that breed is readily accessible out there.
Mister Meaning says
"One and the same" STED "one in the same." The first phrase is a repetitive affirmation that two things are exactly alike. One could say "They are one," or "They are the same" and achieve the same meaning. The second phrase doesn't mean anything.
Tatsuo Yamaguchi says
no more Japanese soy sauce from Japan it's all contaminated with radiation. Soy beans have grown near fukushima.
Marc Matsumoto says
I use Kikkoman, but any Japanese soy sauce will work fine.
Mishu says
Would you recommend a brand of soya sauce that is best to make this chashu?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Chiaki, to be honest I don't remember the weight measure, a 1/2 pound sounds like a reasonable assumption. That said it doesn't need to be precise, as long as they are submerged in liquid, which you can adjust by using a smaller pot, or adding more liquid (just double the other ingredients).
Chiaki says
Hi, Marc,
Could you provide the approximate weight for the pork cheek used in this recipe? Based on the seasonings, I can only guess the pork is about 1/2 lb.
Greatly appreciated.