Hi guys!
How are you doing?! Hope everything is fine with you all…
It’s been a crazy week for me!!
I filmed this Chashu Bento Box recipe a long ago and plan to publish last week, but didn’t get a chance to do so!
Is anybody as excited as I am about this Chashu Bento Box recipe?
It is so divine, delicious… as soon as you put this chashu in your mouth.. you will be in heaven.
Trust me, when you bring this Chashu Bento Box to work or school, everybody wish they were you!! lol!
Jacob (my hubby) and I had this Chashu Bento Box while we’re traveling in a bullet train in Japan. We also had chicken teriyaki bento box too, that was delicious as well! If you’d like to know how to make chicken teriyaki, check out my recipe!
Chicken teriyaki also a fantastic idea for a bento box!!
But today, let’s make Chashu Bento Box!
Chashu is Japanese pronunciation of Chinese BBQ pork, AKA Char Siu.
But this cooking method is more of brazing than BBQing or roasting, which makes it easier to try at home!
We all start from pork belly.
You can also use pork shoulder, it will work fine. Though, pork belly works the best for this recipe, since it’s evenly layered with fat & meat.
Start searing the pork belly in a dutch oven or thick bottom pot with some oil. We’re going to tap out all the oil later, so no worries how much fat this recipe contains! lol
The oil only will help the pork to lose their own fat and melt down to the pot.
While the pork is searing (it takes a few minutes), it’s the perfect time to prepare your fragrance veggies & mix up sauces!
Cut up a bulb of garlic into half, slice some ginger and wash & cut leek into large size chunks.
Then combine water, soy sauce (No light soy sauce here! We want nice and dark color at the end!), sake, mirin and honey then mix well until honey has dissolved all the way to the liquid.
We could use sugar, but I found the honey makes it more shinier sauce and beautiful flavor more than just sweetness.
Now, tap out all the excess oil and fat from the pot with paper towel.
Make sure to use a tongs, not with your hand! Safety first!!
When the bottom of the pot is dry, now add all the garlic, ginger, leek and pour the sauce mixture.
Stir around so the pork belly will braised and soak up the the sauce evenly.
Cover with a lid slightly tilted to have a crack so this way, a bit of hot air can be escape.
Bring it to boil over high heat and let it keep hard boil for 20 minutes. Then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes.
Move the pork around here and there so it will have even beautiful grown color.
Meanwhile, cook your rice, boil egg and cut green onion for garnish.
I like to slice green onion super duper thin and long and soak in ice cold water. This way the green onion will curl up really nicely. You can just simply chop the green onion too.
When the pork is done, you will see a beautiful thick sauce simmering and the pork is tender.
Remove the pork from the pot and let it cool slightly before slice.
Place warm cooked rice in a bento box and pour 3 to 4 Tablespoons of the sauce from the pot on top of the rice.
This is the bento box I’m using in this recipe! It comes in 2 different shapes & 3 different colors!
Slice the pork belly chashu into bite sizes.
Place on top of the rice and drizzle more sauce right on top.
Place boiled egg in the corner of the bento box and top with sliced green onion.
Make sure to tap out excess water on paper towel from green onion!
Enjoy!
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 lb pork belly
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup soy sauce
- ¾ cup sake
- ¾ cup mirin
- ½ cup honey
- 1 bulb garlic, cut into halves
- 2 oz ginger, sliced
- 1 large leek, cleaned and cut into 3-inch long pieces
- 1 cup warm cooked rice or any of starch you’d like
- 1 boiled egg, cut in half
- 1 green onion, cut into long thin strips or chopped, soak in ice water
- Heat a large dutch oven or thick bottom pot over high heat; add oil and pork belly, skin side down. Sear the both side, until crispy golden brown color, a couple minutes on both side.
- Meanwhile, combine water, soy sauce, sake, mirin and honey in a measuring cup. Stir until the honey dissolve to the liquid.
- Tap out all the excess oil and fat in the pot with paper towel. Make sure the fat side is up.
- Add garlic, ginger, leek into the pot and pour the sauce mixture. Stir around so pork belly can be braised evenly in the sauce.
- Cover with a lid slightly tilted to have a crack so this way, a bit of hot air can be escape. Bring it to boil over high heat and let it keep hard boil for 20 minutes. Then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook your rice, boil egg and cut green onion for garnish.
- Remove the pork from the pot and let it cool slightly before slice.
- Place warm cooked rice in a bento box and pour 3 to 4 Tablespoons of the sauce from the pot on top of the rice.
- Slice the pork belly chashu into bite sizes. Place on top of the rice and drizzle more sauce right on top. Place boiled egg in the corner of the bento box and top with sliced green onion. (make sure to tap out excess water on paper towel from green onion) Enjoy!
7 comments
I love this recipe! The first time I made it, I couldn’t find any pork belly at my grocery store so I made it with pork shoulder, but it still came out so delicious! This is my second time making it, but this time with pork belly! And man does it really melt in your mouth, it’s so good, I can’t get enough!
Yes, you’re right, pork shoulder or butt will work great for this recipe!
This is ridiculous, sinful almost! I love it. My pork belly came with it’s skin, I removed it for this dish. I don’t want to waste it, any suggestions?
You are so confused.So misleading pork Belly Is totally different from Cha Shu or Cha Siu. Cha means Fork, shu or Siu means grill, roast or burn, which is the BBQ pork loin usually with reddish color. Pork belly is never called CHA SIU
Just remember Chashu is Japanese pronounce of Char-siu (Chinese province) and this is Japanese version of it. Pork belly is what used often for this recipe and they enjoy as topping for ramen or bento box like this recipe. Hope this helps!
I have recently become obsessed with your recipes – amazing! I am literally cooking this as we speak and it smells amazing. Quick question – do you take the skin off the pork belly before you cook it?
For this recipe, I purchased the pork belly doesn’t have skin on, the Japanese market I went had only skin off. It’s up to you, what you prefer. Some likes skin on and some likes don’t.