Japanese Charshu チャーシュー

Years ago, I learnt from a Japanese friend that she uses vegetable scraps that she saved daily to make the sauce base for Japanese Charshu チャーシュー and I thought this is so clever, zero waste management.  Though I did not use vegetable scraps as I do have a compost bin thus nothing is wasted.

So this time round, I just use lots of leeks to replace the vegetable scraps.

Findings: I should have left the twine on for the whole cooking process because somehow the meat "open up".  Overall, I am quite happy how it turned out.
AdaptedWhat you need:
1 kg pork belly½ tbsp grapeseed oil4” ginger (skin removed and sliced)5 stalks leek
500ml water200g mirin200g soya sauce3 tbsp sugar1 tsp salt1 tsp pepper
Method:
Cut off the white part of the leek for further use.  For the remaining green part, cut into 3” long.  Set aside.
Finely cut the white portion of the leek.  Keep it in the airtight container as garnish.
Roll up the pork belly with twine.  Blanch pork in a pot of boiling water.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat and brown the pork belly.
In a heavy bottom pot, put water, mirin, soya sauce, sugar, salt and pepper together.
Add the pork belly, ginger and leek and bring it to a boil.
Lower to medium low heat and simmer for 1 hour or until pork is tender. (turn occasionally).
Turn up the heat to reduce the sauce, the sauce should thickened and meat is shiny.  Turn meat repeatedly to soak up the glaze.
Take the meat out and cut into thin slices.
Serve with ramen.
Enjoy!If you have enjoyed this post by Rumbling Tummy, be sure to follow this Rumbling Tummy on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Google+ .