Easy Pork Ramen (Slow Cooker)

I had to buy a bone-in pork shoulder to make Bún Thịt Nướng not long ago. It left me with plenty of meat after deboning, and I froze it because I didn’t know how I wanted to use it. I went searching for a use on Pinterest, naturally, and came up with this Easy Pork Ramen (Slow Cooker) recipe. I love an easy slow cooker recipe, and I love ramen. But when I read through this recipe, I noticed it had a long list of ingredients and a lot of steps (16!). Can a long recipe be an easy recipe? Honestly, I had doubts so I had to try it to find out.

A delicious and easy Pork Ramen recipe that you can make in the slow cooker! A deep and flavorful broth, al dente ramen noodles, crispy shredded pork shoulder, with alll the vegetable topping and garnishes.

The Ingredients

Pork shoulder, check. Although it was a little under two pounds—1 pound 11 ounces, to be exact. I also had a few of the pantry staples on hand. Kosher salt, brown sugar, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, sriracha, olive oil, white sesame seeds, and crushed red pepper flakes were all in my pantry. I also had the packets of ramen noodles because I buy them in bulk (I used five 3-ounce packets, discarding the flavor packets).

That left me to buy the fresh vegetables, and they were all easy to find at my usual grocery store except the leek. I’ve bought them there before, but they were out the day I shopped. That meant I had to make a second trip just for that. It wasn’t ideal, but I did find it at another nearby store.

The Process

There’s a lot going on in this recipe, and it’s a long one. Fortunately, the author did break it down into several sections to make it more manageable.

Marinade

This recipe gives the option of marinating the pork for 30 minutes to 24 hours. I always try to allow the longest time to marinate meat, so I got started the day before I planned to serve this Easy Pork Ramen. Well, I suppose I got started two days before since I let the pork defrost overnight in the refrigerator.

I had cut the deboned pork shoulder into large 2-3 inch chunks when I froze it. That meant the chunks were smaller than what the recipe called for. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to affect the results much (more on that later).

But back to the marinade. This part was extremely easy. I added the ingredients to the bag of pork and used my hands to mix it all together. Then it was into the refrigerator to marinate overnight.

Slow Cooking

Like the marinade, this was easy to do, but get up early so you can cook it on low for eight hours. Slow and low always give me the best results, so I bit the bullet and set my alarm for 6 a.m.

There was a little peeling, chopping, and measuring involved after adding the pork and marinade to my slow cooker. The most complicated part was coring and seeding the jalapeno peppers, and that’s not all that difficult. Or you could skip it if you like spicy.

The last items I added were the chicken bouillon base and water, and I discovered the reason this recipe calls for a 6-quart slow cooker. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to add all the water, but I was just able to. I’m glad I was, though, because the broth ended up being well-seasoned but on the salty side. Less water probably would have upped the saltiness too much for me.

Tip: Use a 6-quart or larger slow cooker because 11 cups of water plus the pork and veg will fill a 6-quart slow cooker to the top.

The pork was fork tender at the seven-hour mark. I’m guessing that was because I had cut it into smaller pieces than the recipe called for. I used a slotted spoon to remove it and the rest of the ingredients. Then I made a few passes of a mesh strainer, then a finer mesh cocktail strainer to get the stray pieces of garlic and a few solids. The broth was clear but still cloudy when I was done when I added the ramen noodles.

Eggs

If you have read other posts involving boiled eggs, you know I love my egg cooker. You would also know I love it because I can’t make hard-boiled eggs in a pot on the stove. I have tried so many times, so many methods, but no joy.

I admit that I got a little nervous when I read the steps for boiling the eggs. Luckily, there was another option in the notes: steaming the eggs. I had bought a steamer basket when I made the Winter Retreat Blood Orange Kale Salad, so I decided to try steaming the eggs for eight minutes, and it worked beautifully. The eggs I used in my Easy Pork Ramen were not quite hard-boiled with soft, creamy yolks—just what I was going for.

Tip: Steam the eggs if possible. The recipe’s notes were true, and it was easy to peel them after steaming and submerging them in an ice water bath.

Toppings & Garnishes

Prep for these was done in 12 minutes. Most of it was simple knife work, but my mandoline came in hand for julienning the carrots. Once the carrots were peeled, I cut them into 2-inch sections before julienning.

A deep saute pan worked well for cooking the carrots, spinach, and leeks. It gave me enough room to stir without the veggies spilling over the sides.

Tip: Wash the leek after halving and slicing it. Dirt has a way of working itself deeply into the white part. Washing after slicing allows the layers to separate and be cleaned properly.

Crispy Pork

This is where the smaller pieces of pork had an impact, although it wasn’t too bad. The pork practically fell apart, so two forks easily shredded it in no time at all.

I added half the pork to the saute pan I used for the veg, and it crisped up nicely. The shorter shreds of pork didn’t really hold together when I flipped them, but I managed. I knew it was done when most of it turned a noticeably darker color.

Tip: Don’t use a non-stick pan. A pan without a non-stick coating will help the pork crisp better.

Serving

Like most bowl-style dishes, this Easy Pork Ramen was easy to customize. It just so happened that I like all of the toppings, so I didn’t change mine from the recipe. I simply added the noodles, then the toppings and garnishes, and plenty of broth. The result was a tasty and filling meal that was a big hit!

Timing

This recipe listed 1 hour to prep, 4 hours to marinate, 8 hours to cook, and a total time of 13 hours. Here’s how my time was spent:

• 3 minutes to prep the marinade
• 24 hours to marinate*
• 14 minutes to prep the pork and broth ingredients
• 7 hours to cook
• 9 minutes to prep the sauteed toppings
• 3 minutes to prep the garnishes
• 6 minutes to skim the broth and add the noodles
• 23 minutes to steam the eggs, saute the toppings, and crisp the pork
• 4 minutes to assemble
• 1 day 8 hours 2 minutes total

*The recipe lists 4 hours to marinate, so that is what I’m basing my time rating on. That would make the total time 12 hours and 2 minutes, which is below the time listed in the recipe.