Recipe: Chasyu for Ramen Topping

Chasyu

This October and the months ahead means frequent cold and rainy weather. A perfect time to stock up on Chasyu topping for piping hot, ramen noodles. I found this recipe online and tried to make one at home. I adjusted the salt on a lower volume  and added soybean paste to the seasoning to make it more flavorful. You need to watch over this since it is slow cooked and you need to reduce the liquid until it becomes syrupy. You can also use pressure cooker to hasten the cooking time in half.

Sliced Chasyu

Preparation time: 30 mins.
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves: 3-4 as ramen topping

Ingredients:

• 350 grams pork ham slab with a bit of fat (rind trimmed and removed)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. oil
• 2 inch ginger, sliced
• 1 green onions
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup sake
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp soybean paste (or miso paste)
• white pepper 

Clockwise from left: water, sake, ginger, soy sauce, salt, soybean paste and white pepper.
Center: Pork ham slab.

Procedure:

1. Wash and pat the meat dry with a paper towel. If the meat is big, you can cut in manageable size. I like my meat in square proportions so it's easy to handle when searing.

2. Season with salt on all sides.

3. Sear the meat until all sides are lightly browned.

4. Add all of the remaining ingredients.

5. Cover and slow simmer for about an hour until meat is tender when pierced with a fork but not flakey.

5. If water is almost dry and meat is not tender enough, add a bit more water and continue to slow simmer.

6. When liquid is reduced, it should be thickened almost like syrup. 

7. Remove from pan and let it cool before slicing. You can also wrap it in cling wrap if you plan to store in freezer. Keeps for a week.

You can keep the reduction as a sauce or you can add it to the ramen.

Pressure Cooker Version:

1. Follow steps 1-4, then cover and seal the lid. 
2. Heat until pressure builds up and reduce the heat to a slow simmer. 
3. Pressure cook for about 30 minutes. Then turn off heat, depressurise, and open the lid.
4. If the sauce is still watery, turn the heat on high and reduce it with an open lid until it resembles like syrup. Do not leave the pot when reducing the sauce or else it might get burnt.
5. Remove from sauce and let it cool down and rest before slicing.
6. You can keep the reduction as a sauce or you can add it to the ramen.

Tonkotsu Broth Recipe here.

Chasyu as ramen topping.