How to Cook Chashu, Japanese Braised Pork

Sunday, March 6, 2022

How to Cook Chashu, Japanese Braised Pork

As I mentioned in my previous entry, How to Cook Kakuni, Japanese Braised Pork Dish, my husband and I purchased a large pack of pork loin at Costco and decided to cook two kinds of Japanese braised pork dishes.

We cooked kakuni (角煮, 豚角煮) and chashu (チャーシュウ), and these turned out so good!

Kakuni (角煮, 豚角煮), Japanese Braised Pork

In my previous entry, I shared how to cook kakuni with you. Today, I'm going to share how to cook Japanese chashu with you.

Chashu (チャーシュウ), Japanese Braised Pork

In Japan, chashu can be found at most ramen restaurants, and it is one of popular ramen toppings. If you would like to cook regular chashu, you can choose pork shoulder, but this time I used pork loin, which has less fat than pork shoulder. When I ate my homemade chashu, it reminded me of yakibuta (焼豚) I purchased at depachika in Japan. (In Japan, major department stores have delicatessen on underground floors which is called depachika in Japanese.) I really loved this chashu, and definitely, I will cook it again. 😋

How to Cook Chashu

Today, I'm going to share how to cook chashu with you. Hope you will try this recipe.

How to Cook Chashu, Japanese Braised Pork

Ingredients (6 Servings)

2 lb of Pork (Pork Shoulder or Pork Loin) *Pork loin has less fat than pork shoulder.

1 Tablespoon of Oil (Vegetable Oil, Olive Oil or etc)

2 Green Onions (Chopped)

2 Cloves of Garlic (Crushed)

1/2 Cups of Sake

8 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1. Heat oil in a large pan over high heat. Saute the meat until the both sides brown.

2. Wipe off excess grease from the pan.

3. Add green onions, garlic, sake, soy sauce and honey. Bring it to a boil. Frequently spooning the sauce over the pork and simmer it for 3 minutes.

4. Move the pork and sauce into the bowl, and cover it with aluminum foil.

5. Put a washcloth in a large pot (I'm using the 5-qt pot.).

6. Put the bowl over the washcloth in the large pot, and pour hot water in the pot. The hot water is about 1 inch deep.

7. Cover the lid. Bring it to a boil. Then reduce heat. Cook it for 15 minutes.

8. Turn the pork. Cover it with aluminum foil again. Cover the lid, and cook it for another 15 minutes. Then, turn off the heat. Let it sit for 20 minutes.

9. Take the bowl out of the large pot, and move it to Ziploc bag or plastic bag.

Remove air from the bag as much as possible. Let it cool. Then sit it in refrigerator for over 2 hours. (You can store it in refrigerator for five days.) Now, your chashu and its sauce are ready to enjoy.