Five Spice Slow Cooker Pork with Noodles

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Total: 6 hr 25 min
  • Prep: 10 min
  • Inactive: 15 min
  • Cook: 6 hr
With a nod to the sweet, savory flavor of char siu (Cantonese-style barbecue pork), this set-it-and-forget-it-style slow cooker recipe yields wonderfully tender pork shoulder that pairs perfectly with Chinese egg noodles.
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Ingredients

3 pounds trimmed pork shoulder

1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup dark soy sauce

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

4 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 garlic head, halved

1 (2-inch) knob unpeeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced

8 dried shiitake mushrooms, optional

Hot cooked Chinese egg noodles, for serving

Directions

  1. Rub the pork all over with the five-spice powder and salt. Add the chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and red pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the scallions, garlic, ginger, the mushrooms, if using, and the meat, turning it a few times to coat. Cover the cooker, set it on HIGH, and cook for 4 hours. Set the cooker on LOW and cook until the meat is very tender, at least another 2 hours (6 hours total).
  2. Transfer the pork to a platter, cover lightly, and let rest 15 minutes. Meanwhile, pour the cooking liquid into a measuring cup and skim off and discard the vegetables and fat that rise to the surface. Slice the meat and serve warm or at room temperature with noodles and the sauce on the side.

Let's Get Cooking!

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katie l.

I used regular soy sauce vs dark and made in Dutch oven on the stove. I had to add quite a bit of water to tame the saltiness, but the final product is intensely flavored and delicious. I used 5 large peeled garlic cloves instead of halved head, and shredded the meat in the sauce, pulling out fatty bits. Didn't strain a thing and added vermicelli noodles to the pot, added more water and left in to soak up the juice. 

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