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This is a real showstopper: Sticky Japanese Pork Belly Noodles. It’s sweet, full of flavor, and so impressive. It uses pork belly, a fatty cut of meat that really benefits from slow cooking, as it softens the fat and makes the cut meltingly tender and not tough at all. The dish takes a few hours to cook, but the hands-on time is very minimal. It’s one of those where you put it on the stove and forget about it.
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Slow cooking meat is such a good option when you’re entertaining (I often make this or my red wine braised short ribs). It’s so easy, requires zero skill, and yet people are always completely, disproportionately impressed and astounded by the results.
This also is an easy dinner party dish, as it’s insanely delicious and can be made a day ahead. For a hassle-free dinner party, you could make this the day before and then leave to cool in the fridge overnight. Then rewarm it gently the next day when you are ready for it. Easy breezy.
Why you will love this recipe
- It’s very hands-off – you add everything together and leave it to do its thing on the stove.
- Slow-cooking pork belly is super forgiving, as it gets better with time. There’s pretty much no risk of overcooking it.
- The flavors are so delicious and coat the noodles perfectly with fresh ginger, soy, and sweet brown sugar.
Ingredients
- Skin-on pork belly – You need roughly 2 1/4 lb (1 kg), so it’s usually easier to get this from the butcher if you can, as supermarket cuts are usually a bit smaller and definitely don’t have as good a flavor either.
- Fresh ginger – You need this both at the first stage when roasting and also when making the sticky sauce. Using a microplane grater is great when making the sauce, as it makes the ginger so small it melts into the sauce.
- Lemongrass – Often making an appearance in Asian dishes, fresh lemongrass adds to the flavor. Find it at the market near the other fresh herbs.
- Noodles – Use whatever noodles you like. I like egg noodles, but rice noodles or even Udon would be good.
- Soft brown sugar – This thickens the sauce and adds the glazed, sticky element so it coats the pork belly noodles and chunks.
Substitutions and variations
Pork belly – You could use a pork shoulder instead, but pork belly is ideal as it’s so fatty. You could also sub in pork ribs. Roast them initially, then don’t cut them up, obviously. You can then toss them in the sticky sauce at the end, and they would be so good.
Honey/brown sugar – If you don’t have both, just use one and substitute the amounts directly.
Noodles – Obviously this recipe is for pork belly noodles, but this is also delicious served with rice, either sticky rice or fluffy basmati rice.
How to make pork belly noodles
Here’s a quick visual guide — the full recipe with exact measurements is below.
ONE: Heat the oil in a frying pan and once it’s nice and hot, place the whole pork belly in the pan skin side down. Once golden, turn it over and sear on the other sides too.
TWO: Put the seared pork belly, still whole, into a heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Cover with water and add the spring onion, ginger, lemongrass, and red chili. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer with the lid on for about 2 hours.
THREE: Mix together the oil, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger.
FOUR: Once mixed, set aside. Remove the pork belly from the liquid and leave to cool enough for you to chop it up into roughly 2-inch chunks.
FIVE: Heat a frying pan with a little oil and then add your pork belly cubes. Fry for a few minutes until they have turned golden and the skin is looking crispy.
SIX: Now pour the sticky sauce into the pan and cook for another 2 minutes.
SEVEN: Make sure to keep stirring as you don’t want it to burn or caramelize. The pork should look gorgeously golden and sticky. Get the noodles on to boil.
EIGHT: Add the julienned carrots to the noodles 1 minute before they finish cooking and then toss the cooked noodles and carrots with a few spoons of the pork sauce to make them nice and saucy.
Tips from Margie’s kitchen
- Slow-cooking pork – Don’t overthink this. It’s very hard to mess up as it’s poached, so you basically cannot overcook it. Let it poach for around 2 hours, and then you just chunk it up and fry until golden.
- Cooking the noodles – You could also boil the noodles in the poaching stock in which the pork was cooked. Then I like to toss the noodles once cooked in the sticky sauce to coat each noodle.
- Avoid burning the sauce – When you add the sticky sauce to the pork in the frying pan, keep the heat over medium or medium-high. Don’t cook over high heat, as the sugar and the honey can burn quickly.
- If you don’t have a julienne peeler – For the carrots, you could use a vegetable peeler to create ribbons or even a grater. Or use a knife.
Frequently asked questions
Noodles work well here; I toss the noodles into the sticky sauce that also coats the pork belly chunks so they are saucy too. Otherwise, I think these would be great in a bao bun. Add a quick slaw alongside, and it would be so delicious.
Yes, you could make poached pork belly the day before (much like my Slow-Cooked Beef Ragu if you want to try that too). Cube up and then cover then leave to cool in the fridge overnight. Then continue from step 4, reheating it gently in the sticky sauce.
Any leftover pork can be transferred to an airtight container and kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. Noodles can also be kept for a few days in the fridge.
If you’ve made this ahead of time, see above for how to reheat. If reheating leftovers, blast in the microwave for 2 minutes or so, until piping hot.
You can’t freeze the noodles, but you can freeze the sticky pork belly. Freeze for up to 2 months. Then, when ready to eat, thaw overnight and reheat in a frying pan over medium-high heat with a splash of water to loosen the sauce.
More recipes you might enjoy
If you like these sticky pork belly noodles, try my Teriyaki Salmon Rice Bowl with Spicy Mango Salsa, Spicy Korean-inspired Gochujang Fishcakes or Spicy Honey Salmon Bowls with Coconut Rice. These Thai-inspired Sesame Fish Cakes or Duck Bao Buns are also delicious. For something sweet and a little different, try this Fluffy Strawberry Sandwich, also inspired by Japanese cuisine.
Easy Dinner Recipes
Crispy Air Fryer Pork Belly with Crackling
Weeknight Supper
Quick and Easy Shin Ramen with Crispy Pork
Lunch Recipes
Mason Jar Noodles
Less Than 20 Minutes
Korean Spicy Ramen Noodles with Cheese
If you tried these Sticky Pork Belly Noodles or any other recipe on the site, please do leave a comment and let us know how it went!
Japanese Braised Sticky Pork Belly Noodles
Ingredients
For the initial sear and simmer:
- 2.25 lb (1 kg) pork belly with the skin on
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 scallions (spring onions), roughly chopped in half
- 1 inch ginger, peeled, and roughly chopped
- 1/2 red chili, roughly chopped
- 2 sticks of lemongrass, roughly chopped
For the sticky sauce:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 inch ginger, grated
To serve:
- 1 carrot, julienned into thin ribbons
- Egg noodles: 1 nest per person
- 2 sliced baby cucumbers
- sprinkling of sesame seeds, roughly chopped cashew nuts, sliced red chili and scallions, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, and once it’s nice and hot, place the whole pork belly in the pan skin-side down. Once golden, turn it over and sear on the other sides too. The idea is just to get a lovely color, but you aren’t focusing on cooking the meat at all.
- Put the seared pork belly, still whole, into a heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Cover with water and add the spring onion, ginger, lemongrass, and red chili. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer with the lid on for about 2 hours. During this time, skim off any fat that floats to the surface.
- Remove the pork belly from the liquid and leave to cool enough for you to chop it up into roughly 2-inch chunks.
- Mix together the oil, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic.
- Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat with a little oil, and then add your pork belly cubes. Fry for a few minutes until they have turned golden and the skin looks crispy.
- Now pour the sticky sauce into the pan and cook for another 2 minutes, making sure to keep stirring as you don't want it to burn or caramelize. The pork should look gorgeously golden and sticky. Meanwhile, get your noodles on to boil, according to package instructions.
- Add the julienned carrots to the noodles 1 minute before they finish cooking, and then toss the cooked noodles and carrots with a few spoons of the pork sauce to make them nice and saucy.
- Serve with sliced cucumber. Sprinkle over some fresh chopped chili, some scallions, and sesame seeds.
Notes
Make-ahead and storage
To store: Any leftover pork can be transferred to an airtight container and kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. Noodles can also be kept for a few days in the fridge. To freeze: You can’t freeze the noodles, but you can freeze the sticky pork belly. Freeze for up to 2 months. Then, when ready to eat, thaw overnight and reheat in a frying pan over medium-high heat with a splash of water to loosen the sauce. Make-ahead: You could make poached pork belly the day before (much like my Slow-Cooked Beef Ragu if you want to try that too). Cube it up, then cover and leave to cool in the fridge overnight. Then continue from step 4, reheating it gently in the sticky sauce.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this last night and it was delicious! I added Pam Choi and some other veg to bulk it out a bit but the sauce was dreamy and my 4 year old loved it too! (Sans chilli!)