How to make Chicken Chashu for Ramen (Recipe)

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Chicken Chashu Spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
This recipe was given to me by my buddy Erik Bentz of Cafe Mochiko. Please give him a follow too!
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Ingredients:
Chicken - weigh
Water - equal weight to chicken
Salt - 1.75% the weight of chicken + water
Sugar - 1% the weight of chicken + water

[@elpatotengu31]

I used to do this in a restaurant without the sous vide, almost the same process of brining and stuff, but instead of sous vide we boiled like 8 liters of water for 4 KGS of chicken breast without skin. When the water boils we put soy sauce and the chicken, turn off the heat and cover for 25 minutes. It ended up super juicy and tender. We keep it in a similar brine plus soy sauce in the fridge until we use it . 10/10

[@WayofRamen]

nice!

[@peterenis5148]

did you boil the chicken in the brine, or dod you first brine it and then boil it in fresh water?

[@brainzz712]

how much soy sauce should you use?

[@wnpyudha4763]

Thank you for the information, because im planning to have a simple ramen stall which only serves chicken ramen.

[@Sheenifier]

​@@brainzz712however much you like. I'd say per lb of chx about a cup maybe? Give or take really it's up to you

[@patrickmurphy3707]

Never have made chicken chashu, but for other brines the way I've always done it is boil the water, salt, and sugar. refrigerate and then put the chicken in once at a safe cold temperature. Adds some extra time but gets all of the ingredients dissolved very well

[@WayofRamen]

sounds like a pretty consistent way of doing it. i just used purified water here. worked great!

[@FriendofWigner]

If you're in a hurry, you only have to heat up a bit of the water. You could probably dissolve all that sugar and salt in a quarter cup or so of water. Nuke it, mix the seasonings, and then add it to the cold water and brine right away.

[@sears198]

If your not trying to bloom any aromatics, no need to heat the water, just a whisk and like 30 seconds.

[@andy_liga]

You really don't need to boil a brine at all if it's just salt and sugar in small quantities. Just consider that you can dissolve about 350g of salt in 1kg 20°C water. Sugar is a bit different, since you can "theoretically" stir about 1.8kg of sugar in 1kg 20°C water, but the stirring time will be absurdly long and heating would be a preferable method at those quantity. Anyway it really takes a couple of whisks to dissolve any reasonable amount of sugar in water. Coming to my point, in the quantity shown you can easily even toss in salt/sugar (without mixing) and it stay overnight and get the same identical result out, since it's a balanced brining process. Morale, take a whisk and mix it for 30s and, unless you are shooting for a supersaturated brine, you are good to go. Source: I'm a professional chef (who doesn't like to waste time at work)

[@patrickmurphy3707]

@@andy_liga Awesome info and thanks for the detailed reply, I have only used the brining for large amounts of whole chicken that usually later get smoked which involves a bunch of salt and sugar, compared to the small amount for a couple chicken breasts. Definitely will be trying your method for at home chicken breast in the future though.

[@Mike-Eye]

Great recipe Ryan! Gonna try this one out for sure. Thanks! 🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾

[@TooMuchCrafting2013]

Thanks so much for making this. I remember asking about halal chashu a while back and you said you would make a video. I’ll definitely be trying this.

[@WayofRamen]

yup this is the halal chashu!

[@starfishgurl1984]

Thanks so much for this, this is awesome! As someone who doesn’t like traditional pork chashu as well as many other meats/fishes commonly used in ramen but absolutely loves chicken I’m so excited about trying this!

[@sharktobear]

That spreadsheet is a lifesaver, I'm going to get a sous vide just for this (and the eggs you've been posting on your insta stories)

[@alexill]

Love this method. I do the same exact thing at home except after the chicken comes out of the sous vide I cold smoke it for a couple hours. Tastes amazing.

[@Detoneato]

I love these short videos that cover a simple topic. I love the full cook videos and history lessons, but this is the kind of thing that would have helped me most when getting started.

[@WayofRamen]

awesome!

[@ramenbatman]

love it, I know being a short vid it's not great for youtube ads but the info is very valuable

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks for watching!

[@111mattbell]

Wow thanks for the video I might try have to try this!

[@WayofRamen]

thanks for watching!

[@fabioconsonni3232]

Peace! Thank you for sharing your work

[@jasonfanclub4267]

Great I love these short videos about toppings

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks man!

[@tneper]

I've brined mine with shiokoji for a few hours, and cooked it in the vacuum bag with the shiokoji, it comes out incredibly tender and flavorful, no need to marinate it with anything after cooking.

[@ShahriyarMustafiz]

I've been waiting for this, Thank you!

[@WayofRamen]

its really good!

[@ShahriyarMustafiz]

@@WayofRamen can't wait to try it! 😁

[@Pilotamericano]

You added the google spreadsheet 😍 you're so kind

[@Wolf-Odonnell]

Interesting. I hadn't thought about using chicken breast that way for chashu... I've been using chicken thigh rolled up and treated like pork belly as a topping and man that is GREAT especially if you leave the skin on and crisp it in the broiler.

[@WayofRamen]

that works too but this one is VERY good.

[@Wolf-Odonnell]

I'll have to get my hands on a sous vide and try it out!

[@justindexter2810]

Imma need that chicken thigh recipe please

[@anakinsol]

I never thought about using thighs. I'm definitely going to be trying that soon. Thanks for the heads up.

[@jgmceachin8837]

Nice Look realy Good Ill give it a try 👍🏼

[@Verkehrskegel.87]

Gunna try this with your 1 chicken shoyu ramen this weekend! So looking forward to it.

[@Youngajumma]

Thank you soooooo much for this recipe

[@WayofRamen]

no problem. it was all Erik! I'm just passing it along

[@terribleduelist4433]

Man I really wish sous vide was in the title. I would have still watched it. it's just I got really excited cuz I wanted to try it

[@tackytan3890]

Always love your tips and recipes. Is there any plan for non-sous vide recipe? I'll be glad to follow through, thanks ☺

[@alexgarcia8365]

I hope you do a beginners series I feel like with the style of videos you do they would turn out very nice, it would love to learn everything about ramen from you

[@SenpaiKai9000]

Great all around tips for bomb azz Chicken Breast for any use too!

[@WayofRamen]

Yup! Great for the six pack!

[@bwb5f5]

I know you’ve discussed much of this stuff in various videos, but could you do a video just covering the basic elements of ramen and the different major regional variations?

[@satanismybrother]

Hello friend, great video as always but it’s worth making sure your sous vide bath is up to temperature first- the purpose is to reduce the amount of time that your food is in the ‘danger zone’ where the temperature is ideal for bacterial growth. Realistically your going to be fine for a small bath and small bits of meat but if you have a large bit of meat in a large bath, starting off cold can mean that you’re in the danger zone and growing bacteria for a longer period of time than is safe. While sous vide will eventually sterilise your food (given long enough at a high enough temperature) you can develop bad flavours, aromas and even potential toxins if bacteria are able to grow long enough.

[@Dom-mi4cc]

Great advice 👍

[@b4ds33d]

No sous vide device gets hot enough to sterilize. Stop saying shit that isn’t remotely true.

[@BassCannonSan]

@@b4ds33d You will end up pasteurizing the meat over long enough period

[@b4ds33d]

@@BassCannonSan pasteurize good and sterilizing are two different things.

[@BassCannonSan]

@@b4ds33d Yeah but instead of providing correct info you just yelled like a knobhead

[@EiffelVale]

Thanks for this video, Ryan! I did see many other videos about Chicken Chashu, but it always interests me to see your take for this. My bucket list to make ramen for my friends that don't eat pork seems closer to completion now 😊

[@WayofRamen]

yup this one is pretty amazing. I expected nothing less from Erik.

[@drec9267]

Thank you bro

[@Izzy-zf1fl]

Top channel. Top man.

[@WayofRamen]

Thank you izzy

[@yasmineadamsoudja6897]

I want to try to do some Chicken Chashu but I don't have any sous vide stuff so I guess my question is how can I do it without the sous vide ?

[@pcl89]

Tried it with chickentighs and it came out great :) (2hrs @ 75°C)

[@MDigitalProductions]

Been a while but I'm missing this channels vids

[@alecfoster4375]

Did you get those metal bowls at costco? I saw some there that looked really similar and actually bought them because of your channel! Thank you so much for being a Ramen inspiration :) I always love your videos

[@FriendofWigner]

I went back and checked, and they look just like the ones I got there a few months back. They're great because of the non stick bottom, and they have measurement marks inside.

[@WayofRamen]

Either Costco or Amazon. Can't remember

[@StoneAndersonStudio]

Looks delicious! Have you tried it with chicken thigh? I think the extra fat might help but you’d have to go for hotter/longer.

[@miya705]

I was so excited for this since I don't eat pork, but I don't own a sous vide machine so I guess I'll just keep using air fried chicken thighs.

[@spideyguy1389]

I legit laughed when he said " If you suck in maths, you can use my google spreadsheet" hahahah lmao man straight up disssin'

[@Keithlovescake]

Hey Ryan, does the equilibrium brine work for other proteins (like pork) also?

[@WayofRamen]

yes but you generally don't need to brine darker meats. pork loin benefits from brining though.

[@starmantheta2028]

I'm glad you made a vid on chicken chasu. I know it is scandalous, but I honestly don't like pork chasu, so having an alternative is great.

[@unregisturd]

How many days do you think it would keep in the fridge for after cooking? Reckon 3 days would be OK?

[@Yakitoriguy]

Awesome ! Got a chicken "chashu" grilled version coming up in our next video with Keizo

[@WayofRamen]

oooooh!

[@joy12division]

Any reason the kombu couldn't be part of the brine? Edit: Tried it. Was very tender and I think texture wise a little bit of char from a torch would be a nice touch.

[@memelord3348]

O la la, that thumbnail is pure gold. Just perfect JUICYNESS

[@WayofRamen]

its awesome

[@anthonyhharper8512]

Quick question, other than the optional kombu, what makes this chashu? It’s just a brined sous vide chicken breast?

[@thynaruto]

How about the usual marinade (the brown one) for Chashu? Can I sous vide with it?

[@hingcheung]

Would instant dashi work instead of the water and kombu?

[@tuascapital]

I just did this last week when I tried to follow your Keizo Shimamoto Shoyu Ramen recipe! It works wonders! Thanks for this channel!

[@anamfirdous510]

Very happy to see the halal Chashu what a relief 😅 I was searching how to make ramen at home so I can enjoy this cuisine too. If you have any idea for substitute for mirin and sake as a Muslim can’t use that.

[@GrandNecro]

have you tried making tonkotsu ramen without preboiling out the scums? I'm trying to save as much time and just wondering how much impact the preboil actually makes and if it's worth the time

[@JorkingPeanits]

You can make the ramen without the blanche or preboil but I really recommend blanching the pork first. I've done both ways and i will never Not preboil again.

[@gian323]

Can you do the Ramen Lord's New Wave Tokyo Style Shoyu Ramen? I remember Sho Spaeth linking this recipe (I loved your interview with him btw). Thanks! Edit: I just found the New Wave video, thanks!

[@scottserage9022]

Thanks, my wife doesn’t eat pork so this is perfect to try out

[@WayofRamen]

It's really good.

[@Smmitherss]

Ima just put this in some top ramen

[@WayofRamen]

I did, check out the lemon shio ramen video

[@Ryan_gogaku]

This looks very tasty, but the color leaves something to be desired. I wonder if it would be overcooked to sear this off or too salty if it were coated in something darker to get a less pale chicken.

[@WayofRamen]

it looks very nice in ramen, shio or shoyu

[@jasunfeddema7539]

Can you do a video on Okinawa Soba?

[@mrtencza]

Can you make this without sous vide?

[@LowercaseKev]

Nice

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks Kevin

[@DocDigg]

Hey Ryan, I think you should do a sous vide versus poaching method matchup. I’m telling you, I thought sous vide was the way, but the way of chicken Chashu is actually to poach it.

[@WayofRamen]

poaching might work too but seems like you need more skill

[@squeektheweek6949]

If you would like the chicken a bit more tender most of the muscle fibers run the width of the breast so cut it length wise. I usually cut in the middle and turn them.

[@ryanzachary8310]

If you’re making chintan just poach in the soup, works with chicken breast & trussed skinless thigh. marinate in shoyu tare & it’s perfect

[@lordofnothing.]

Grams and.....Fahrenheit?! besides that: thanks ♥ - gonna try that one soon

[@Barakon]

It might be expensive, but can mutton or lamb be turned to chashu?

[@WillShrop]

I followed the recipe by the channel Tokyo Kitchen. Wasn't bad, but this overnight brine may pack more flavor.

[@WayofRamen]

yeah i've tried a few methods but this one was the best i've done so far.

[@WillShrop]

@@WayofRamen This was amazing.

[@zojirushi1]

Quick and simple video! :)

[@Username-xd3qx]

Question: Can this be done with chicken thighs?

[@crozraven]

Is there any way to make it without sous vide?

[@WayofRamen]

i think there's a way to use a rice cooker and do the same thing but I haven't tried. you can also do it the extremely hard way of adjusting the temperature on the stove constantly for an hour.

[@crozraven]

@@WayofRamen Thanks! I gonna look into it.

[@Tuxedosam.]

@@WayofRamen check out Kenji Lopez Alt's beer cooler method!

[@postumus4924]

Gonna try this without the sous vide (sice is not possible for me), lets see how it turns out

[@WayofRamen]

good luck!

[@PolePosition08]

Just curious as to why 145F for the temperature? I thought chicken has to be cooked to 165F, at least per USDA here in the States.

[@WayofRamen]

165 is a general temp for chicken which doesn't take into account cook time. because we're cooking it so long you can go lower on the temp and create a better texture. 145 for this long should be very safe.

[@nebulous962]

No 145°f is fine too. You just have to make sure its internal temp stays at 145°F for like 10min. There are charts online if you want to learn more. 165°F is where chicken is safe to eat instantly so thats why most people tell to cook it to 165°F

[@nebulous962]

@@WayofRamen noo. U were faster :D

[@PolePosition08]

@@WayofRamen ​ @noname Thank you both!

[@ruftime]

The only thing tough to get in SoCal, is whole pork belly😂. Had to order online.

[@dethrising]

SoCal resident here! Some H-Marts have whole slabs in the meat section, you might just have to ask the butcher. Whole Foods also sells whole slabs of pork belly.

[@adrieleje851]

@@dethrising Also 99 Ranch Market

[@katl8825]

Interesting recipe! I just want to quickly say, wait till your water is up to temp before adding chicken - adding earlier =longer time your chicken spends at lukewarm temps that bacteria can proliferate at. I don’t have numbers memorized or charts in front of me but yeah, a risk that can be avoided without any interference in final product :)

[@Sleepless_Sam]

You know, I used to think chashu implied some sort of marinade or seasoning. I looked it up and in tandem with this video I have decided it just means meat cooked in water. Sounds fancy though. Chashu

[@WayofRamen]

chashu is a weird word because it comes from chinese characters that imply its roasted but japanese chashu has always historically been braised. this style of chashu is relatively new in japan but pretty popular with both chicken and pork.

[@hatimzeineddine8723]

Hey, I have favism, and i can't eat soy beans or any soy products, but i used to love ramen before i found out that it was really bad for me. Are there any ramen recipes I can have, I really miss it.

[@WayofRamen]

you could probably do a shio ramen with this chicken chashu

[@hatimzeineddine8723]

@@WayofRamen thank you so much for replying!

[@pncvsx9888]

Hello i commented on your easy shoyu recipe but you didn't reply. Im asking about the korsher salt. What if i dont have korsher salt can i used iodized salt instead? How can i adjust the salt portion of it pls answer pls

[@WayofRamen]

yup but you may have to adjust because regular salt might make it quite salty. you could potentially even leave it out.

[@pncvsx9888]

@@WayofRamen thank you for the reply. :) i tried your shoyu ramen the first time i made it, it was actually really good. But the second time it didn't turned out as good as the 1st try. maybe its because of the salt? and the broth doesn't seem to have the same umami flavor as the first time I've tried it. I don't knowwhat i did wrong i just followed all the measurements. And also how many grams of onion leeks and ginger to veg oil should i use for the aroma oil?

[@letschan4162]

Do you have plan for making another shio ramen? Or Ivan's ramen?

[@WayofRamen]

yeah i'm starting to get an itch to do a shio. its so hot in hawaii right now though

[@letschan4162]

@@WayofRamen well that's unfortunate 😅 You could do a lemon ramen tho. It's pretty light and refreshing for a hot day.

[@rand-san2095]

Have you tried just dry brining this instead?

[@WayofRamen]

haven't tried yet

[@ronnieghosh6452]

this helps for my friends that follow islam / they cant have pork/

[@rjv6390able]

Why not 165° for poultry?

[@noproblematallmate]

Isn't 1.75% salt too salty? I do 1.2% and its already quite salty.

[@ItsKingOni]

Thats a safe temp to eat chicken at?

[@restaurantman]

Certainly.

[@NZtechfreak]

Yes. You might have seen that chicken needs cooking to an internal temp of 165f to kill pathogens, but it is a function of time also. At 165f it takes something like 10s to kill sufficient pathogens for safety, however longer times at lower temps works the same. Cooking chicken breast to 165f is horrible, unless you like dry tough chicken breast.

[@rehanshahzad6106]

When are you going to upload halal ramen

[@ShalolaAuthor]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJSuea16r85npJY&ab_channel=WayofRamen use this soup with this video charsiu

[@WayofRamen]

You can make any chicken stock based ramen and this chicken chashu. the only thing left is a halal tare which i will need to figure out but it is definitely doable! soon all the info will be on the channel.

[@MrPopoy67]

@@WayofRamen just wanna say im muslim and been a long subscriber of your channel and very excited to see your take on how to make an awesome halal ramen

[@alpha6570]

You can make a halal tare by combing soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, shitake broth, vinegar and sugar And then boil it and make a concentrated tare This is my own recipe so it's absolutely not perfect, but it does the job of flavoring the broth

[@daniswara1164]

Just change the pork to beef, and the mirin to halal mirin. It exist here in Indonesia, halal mirin. Though I don't know whether they taste the same

[@Sleepyhead99]

This isn't that far off from (Chinese) poached chicken. You're not using a whole chicken, and you're putting a bit more control with a sous vide (as opposed to a gentle but general poach) but the direction is the same. Similar "cooked, but not over-cooked/dry" texture. Looks great!

[@alexvpaq]

Legit did 2 grocery stores and settled on pork shoulder to make chashu and I walk in and see you can make it with chicken?! I feel cheated. 😂

[@WayofRamen]

well now you know for next time 😉

[@vandy3427]

Hi

[@ndubb100]

What if you don't have a sous vide machine?

[@Tuxedosam.]

Kenji Lopez Alt's method of using a beer cooler to keep temperature works great. Still need a thermometer

[@antonc81]

Nice. I’m tempted to get a smoking gun and experiment with a quick cold smoke as well.

[@WayofRamen]

oooh that might be nice!

[@XCerykX]

I don't like pork chashu, so chicken would be interesting. I won't touch sous vide though, way too much waste plastic involved for my liking, so I'll have to try this a different way.

[@espicfh]

do you think adding some shoyu and mirin to the brine or sous vide bag would provide a flavor closer to Ramen__Lord's Chashu?

[@WayofRamen]

Could work.

[@Fatbutnotflat]

i tried sous vide with shoyu and mirin, i suggest to dilute the shoyu & mirin, otherwise it's really salty (even with tiniest amount)

[@ombacrud]

So ... no other "seasonings" for the chicken? I believe pork used soy, ginger, and whatever. Thanks in advance.

[@WayofRamen]

nope this is a clean tasting chicken. its a perfect topping for more delicate soups and won't alter the flavor of anything else.

[@kevinzdebel1558]

I marinade this one day with salt pepper garlic and olive oil Then sous vide As a chashu for shio ramen with roastet tomatoes Its delicious

[@WayofRamen]

that sounds really good

[@Fatbutnotflat]

The missing piece! Chicken chashu from WoR is here!!

[@WayofRamen]

this one is really good

[@ingilizanahtar644]

Turkish please

[@AA-hk3cm]

That's all long sounds like a maths exam

[@kail9757]

I cook chicken often this way, sometimes adding other aromatics to the brine, such as lemon peel, thyme, garlic, etc. So, a big "thumbs up" to your video. Just, frankly, it doesn't feel really "chashu-like". I was expecting soy sauce, etc. in the brine - which would effect the amount of salt, of course. So I was somehow hoping for a recipe that mimics the flavours of normal chashu. If you ever make a "version 2" of this video, that would be cool. Yoroshiku.

[@L1ttlef0ot]

Why isn’t the chicken cooked to 165 F? I thought 145 was only for pork or meats that aren’t always cooked well done, but I’ve never seen chicken not cooked well done because of food borne illness Edit: I know pretty much nothing about sous vide

[@restaurantman]

The pasteurization process that occurs in Sous Vide cooking is a function of both temperature and time. If you hold thr cooking temperature of Chicken at 145°F (63°C) for 8.5 minutes (or longer), you can achieve the same bacterial reduction as at 165°F (74°C).

[@Ouchie]

Not sure if I would call it "char siu/chashu" but that is just my opinion

[@WayofRamen]

call it chicken ham like the japanese

[@thechef8677]

2.24 that's what she said... 😏

[@adrianli7559]

For those too lazy to open the spreadsheet, for one part of meat, you'll need part gram water, 3.5% salt by mass, and 2% sugar by mass.

[@nimay13]

Interesting, I thought Chashu is originated from Chinese Char Siu. But from the looks of it, it is way different.

[@WayofRamen]

The word comes from that but in Japan it's always been boiled for some reason. Just like ramen noodles have always been cut rather than pulled in Japan

[@martinkasse1932]

few people will have a machine like that, show an alternative

[@doortman]

finally halal chashu

[@MyNigellus]

No seasoning? Looks kinda dull

[@ibendover4817]

Dull? No it's not. White ppl...lol.

[@greenlizardballs]

I think chicken thigh will work great if you cut it sideways.

[@AxelVoitier]

What's the point of using an immersion circulator but not cooking at one set temperature at all times? This is just as uneven cooking as you could do in an oven, in a pan, or in a plain pot of water (but starting from high and going to low). Ie. it will not achieve the homogenity of temperature all throughout. You will rather develop a gradient of cooking temp, and that can take a lot of trials and guess work to get something perfectly dialed in (where most people will actually not bother and call their approximation "good enought"...). And that's actually shows in your slices: your interior is rosy but the exterior ring is pale. And even in the rosy part you can also distinguish two zones, with the outer one exhibiting "ridge" of dry-ness. You have the most perfect cooking machine on hands, use it right! And if you don't want the waiting time of getting the bath to temp, pre-warm the water in a pot or kettle to about the right temp. Some kettle can even be set to 5°C/10°F increments.