Chashu

Chashu is one of those toppings that we all wish there was more of in the bowl! It’s tender, flavorful, and has the perfect mouth-feel for silky, chewy ramen.

Whenever we talk about the ideal bowl of immi ramen, chashu is almost always on our topping list. Since we love it so much, we thought it would be great to go in-depth and tell you everything you need to know about this delicious ramen topping.

What is Chashu?

Chashu is a traditional ramen topping that’s very common in the standard Japanese bowl of ramen. It’s made with pork belly that’s rolled and braised in a flavorful mix of mirin, sake, sugar, and soy sauce.

Once it’s cooked, it’s allowed to cool and then sliced finely before serving.

Some versions of chashu have it chopped as well as opened up and sliced lengthwise like bacon. These you’ll find among the more contemporary ramen street vendors and restaurants.

The individual combination of ingredients may differ from cook to cook but these four are the traditional components of the braising liquid.

What is Chicken Chashu?

History of the topping

The dish originally comes from China, where it’s known as Char Siu. The Chinese version of the dish is a sweet and savory BBQ pork. The dish has since been adopted into Japanese cuisine, where it’s braised instead of barbecued.

Where the Chinese version is barbecued as is, chashu is rolled and braised to create a solid piece that can be chopped, similar to ham and other lunch meats.

There’s actually not much recorded history of char-siu’s migration to Japan. Some believe that it came through trade as it was a relatively affordable dish (and ingredient). Whatever the case may be, it’s taken on a whole new life and personality as part of ramen culture.

Why chashu pairs well with ramen

There are 3 main reasons why chashu goes so well with ramen.

Texture

The signature texture of well-cooked chashu comes from the ingredients it’s braised in. Salty liquids such as soy sauce tend to draw out the moisture from meats. However, the fatty nature of pork belly allows it to remain moist and rich even when most of the water has evaporated. This gives it that easily breakable texture that contrasts so well with the chewy noodles.

Richness

The braising process renders fat very slowly. Since pork belly has a lot of fat, the slow-cook lets it slowly seep into the meat, flavoring it from the inside. This also prevents it from drying out. All of this gives it a distinct richness that you just don’t find with other cuts of meat. The savoriness of the soy sauce, fruity sweetness of sake, and tanginess of mirin contribute to the richness. What’s great about chashu in ramen is that it doesn’t overpower the richness of an already unctious broth such as in tonkotsu ramen. In fact, it balances itself with each broth flavor.

Flavor

The flavor of chashu depends on the specific ingredient ratios. It can be a little different in different places but one thing’s for certain, it’s always delicious! While looking into what makes chashu so great, we realized that the flavor is the perfect combination of rich, sharp, and savory. You would expect it to be sweeter due to the caramelization of sugars in sake and mirin, but it’s surprisingly restrained on the sweetness.

Which ramen broth pairs best with chashu, and how common it is as a topping?

Because of its tasty texture and perfect flavor, chashu goes well with each ramen flavor for a different reason.

For example, it goes well with Shoyu ramen because of how the richness lets you cut some of the tang from the shoyu broth. It goes with Shio ramen because of its stronger flavors that add some zest to the salty broth.

For us though, it would have to be Tonkotsu ramen! In our opinion, it’s the most natural pairing, especially when you consider how well the richness of chashu compliments pork bone broth.

Of course if we’re talking about which flavor of delicious immi ramen goes best with chashu, we’re a little spoilt for choice!

Chashu tastes amazing with the savory kick of Black Garlic ‘Chicken’ flavored immi ramen due to its ability to meld with the tasty pungence of garlic. It goes well with the Spicy ‘Beef’ flavored immi ramen due to how it balances the heat. It even goes great with Tom Yum ‘Shrimp’ flavored immi ramen because of how it adds a unique flavor layer to the dish.