Chahan (Ramen Restaurant Style Fried Rice)

This ramen restaurant-style "chahan" uses typical ramen ingredients such as pork chashu, kamaboko fishcake, egg and spring onion to make the ultimate fried rice!

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Jump to:

• What is Chahan?
• How to Make it Ramen Restaurant Style
• Ingredients and Substitutions
• Step-by-Step Process
• Storage Options
• More Ramen Restaurant Inspired Recipes
• Chahan (Ramen Restaurant Style Fried Rice)
• FAQ

What is Chahan?

Chahan (チャーハン) is the Japanese word for Chinese-style fried rice. It comes from the Japanese pronunciation of the kanji used in Chinese "chǎofàn" (炒飯). Although Japanese has the word "Yakimeshi" (焼飯) which also means "fried rice," the type served in Chinese restaurants and ramen restaurants is always called chahan.

It is said that chahan was brought to Japan by Chinese immigrants around 1860 and became a staple in Japanese homes as an excellent way to use up leftover rice.

Chahan is made with cooked rice, meat, egg, and vegetables. It's often seasoned with soy sauce, salt and pepper. The chahan in Japan is often topped with pink pickled ginger called "benishoga" which adds a refreshing taste to the dish.

How to Make it Ramen Restaurant Style

When I was 13 or 14, I discovered my passion for cooking through making chahan. Despite not having access to the internet or a recipe book, I would change the seasonings every time using only my imagination, trying to achieve the ramen restaurants' fried rice.

However, I could never quite capture the unique sweetness and flavor back then until I realized the secret ingredient was various elements of pork.

Ramen restaurants tend to use pork in abundance, including lard, instead of other types of oil. But the most crucial ingredient is chashu pork, specifically pork belly. Without it, authentic ramen restaurant-style fried rice cannot be replicated. Additionally, the marinade used to prepare the chashu serves as a seasoning, giving it a uniquely sweet and savory taste.

However, it is not necessary to make chashu just for fried rice; it is recommended to use leftover chashu from ramen or other uses to make fried rice. In fact, ramen restaurants use end cuts of chashu that cannot be used for ramen.

If you're not interested in making chashu, you can use any leftover meats for this recipe. And obviously, if you don't make the chashu you won't have the leftover marinade. In this case, I recommend mixing the following:

• 1 tbsp tsuyu sauce
• 1 tsp sake
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1 tsp water
• ½ tsp grated ginger
• ½ grated garlic
• A pinch of sugar

Of course, it will never taste the same as if you used chashu and marinade, but this is pretty close to what I have found in my testing.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Pork chashu - Cut into small dice. If you do not use chashu pork, substitute another ingredient, such as leftover roast pork or roast chicken. If using raw meat, cook it first and fry the rice in the leftover fat and juices for the ultimate flavor.
• Japanese fish cake - This pink and white fishcake is usually served on ramen or udon. If it is not available, you can omit it, but the fish cake will bring your fried rice closer to ramen restaurant-style chahan.
• Green onion - Chop the white parts and use them. If you are going for ramen restaurant-style, it is not advisable to substitute onion or other ingredients here.
• Lard - If you do not want to use lard, substitute sesame oil. However, lard is essential for the flavor of ramen restaurant-style fried rice.
• Egg - This recipe is calculated with medium size eggs, but small or large size can be used.
• Cooked Japanese short-grain rice - It does not have to be freshly cooked rice; cold or frozen (reheated) rice is actually recommended since it's less likely to stick together. If you want to know how to cook rice without a rice cooker, please see our recipe on how to cook Japanese rice.
• Fine white pepper - You may also use black pepper.
• Salt - 1% of the rice weight. I use fine sea salt.
• Chinese-style chicken bouillon powder - It adds slight depth to the rice. I use Youki's additive-free Garasupu all the time.
• Chashu marinade - This homemade marinade combines pork stock (simmered with fresh onion, ginger and garlic) with soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar. If you're interested in making homemade chashu and its marinade, check out my chashu recipe. If you didn't make chashu, check the recipe notes for the substitute.
• Red pickled ginger (benishoga) - This vibrant optional garnish add color and a refreshing sour kick to the dish.

Step-by-Step Process

Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make delicious ramen restaurant-style chahan at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, see the printable recipe card below.

Storage Options

To keep your fried rice safe to eat and delicious, it's important to follow a few guidelines. Firstly, avoid storing it at room temperature. Instead, refrigerate it for up to 2 days or freeze it for up to a month.

When refrigerating, let the rice cool down before placing it in an airtight container like Tupperware. For best results, reheat in a frying pan or wok.

For freezing, wrap each serving tightly in plastic wrap or a Ziploc bag, ensuring it's not exposed to air. Place the wrapped rice in a metal container or in aluminum foil with a cooling agent on top, then freeze it at a low temperature as soon as possible. Remove it from the metal container or foil before microwaving to reheat.

I hope you enjoy this chahan recipe inspired by ramen restaurant's fried rice! If you try it out, I'd really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It's also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!

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