Instant Pot Chashu Pork Shoulder (Japanese Braised Pork)

Instant Pot Chashu Pork Shoulder. A Japanese-style pork shoulder roast, pressure cooked with soy sauce, sake, and other flavorings. It's a great topping for ramen or on top of rice in Chashu Don.

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• Ingredients
• How to make Instant Pot Chashu Pork Shoulder
• Substitutions
• Scaling up or down
• Tips and Tricks
• What do I serve with Chashu pork?
• Instant Pot Chashu Pork Shoulder (Japanese Braised Pork)
• Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

Chashu (叉焼) means "sliced roast pork" in Japanese and is the Japanese version of China's Char Siu. It is best with fatty pork with a lot of connective tissue, like the pork shoulder I'm using in this recipe. (The other traditional meat is pork belly, which is also great.)

Ingredients

• 3-pound boneless pork shoulder roast, cut in half (Each piece about 3x4x4 inches)
• 1 cup soy sauce
• ½ cup sake
• ½ cup mirin
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2-inch piece of ginger, unpeeled, sliced into ¼-inch rounds
• 3 green onions, roots trimmed, cut in half (about half a bunch)

How to make Instant Pot Chashu Pork Shoulder

Everything in the pot

Pour the soy sauce, sake, mirin, and water into an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add half the garlic, ginger, and green onions. Put the pieces of shoulder roast in the pot and turn them to coat with the sauce. Scatter the remaining garlic, ginger, and green onions over the top.

Pressure Cook for 50 minutes with a Natural Release

Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 50 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker or for 40 minutes in a stovetop pressure cooker. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook—Custom mode set to 50 minutes in an Instant Pot.) Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 more minutes. (If you're in a hurry, you can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes.)

Rest (optional) and serve

Carefully lift the pork out of the sauce. If you are using it immediately, cut the pork into ½-inch thick slices and serve. If you have the time, rest the pork - it will slice easier. Let the pork cool to room temperature, put it in a zip-top bag, ladle a cup or two of pot sauce over the pork, and seal the bag. Rest the bag in the refrigerator for a few hours to a few days. Then, remove the pork from the bag, slice it into ½-inch thick slices, and serve. If you want to sear the pork, heat a small skillet over medium heat, then sear the pork until just browned on each side, about 2 minutes each.

Substitutions

Different cuts of pork

This recipe works with pork shoulder or belly, both of which are traditional in Chashu. It will not work with pork loin; the loin will overcook in the pressure cooker.

Substitutes for Sake and Mirin

Sake is Japanese rice wine; substitutes are dry sherry, dry vermouth, or dry white wine. Mirin is a sweetened Japanese rice wine; substitutes are sake or dry sherry and a tablespoon of sugar. None of these substitutions are perfect, but they work if you can't find Sake or Mirin.

Scaling up or down

This recipe can be scaled up or down as long as the pork roast can be cut into 3-inch by 3-inch by 4-inch pieces. Scale the rest of the ingredients up or down based on the size of the roast.

Tips and Tricks

Cutting the roast in half before cooking

The trick to this recipe is cutting the larger roast into 2 smaller roasts, each about 3-inch by 3-inch by 4-inch pieces. Breaking up the roast speeds up the pressure cooking time, so the roast is done in under an hour.

Let the pork rest before slicing

I know it smells fantastic coming out of the pressure cooker, but letting the roast cool down helps the roast hold together while slicing. (There's nothing wrong with shredded pork, but I'm looking for a slice of pork shoulder to put on a big bowl of ramen.) Give the roast an hour at room temperature to firm up if you can. Or, even better, rest it for a few hours in the refrigerator. I like to put it in a bag with some of the pot sauce so it can soak up a little more flavor while it rests.

What do I serve with Chashu pork?

My favorite way to use Chashu pork is as an ingredient in other recipes. I'm posting it for use in my Instant Pot Ramen recipe (coming soon), and I used the extra pork in fried rice. It also makes a good pork roast with Japanese flavor - serve it over steamed white rice as Chashu Don, with a side of vegetables.

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