Category: Instant Pot

The Instant Pot has been working well for me that it’s now my personal mission to go back to my favorite recipes and check if I can cook them in a more efficient way. I found some rib tips at my grocery store and I thought they would work well and cook faster for this recipe. I think if they were boneless, they would be less challenging to eat, but no one said you can’t use your fingers to eat these.

If you can get a sweet Vidalia onion, it would be nice; a regular white onion will do, but Vidalias have a sweetness to them that would nicely hold the fat back from becoming too overwhelming here.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 pork rib tips, boneless if possible
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
sesame oil
1 large white onion, sliced
salt, pepper

1. Using the sauté function of your Instant Pot, add 1 cup of the sugar. As soon as it melts and turns golden, add pork, raise heat to maximum, and stir until coated. The sugar will harden, but it will re-melt as it becomes a sauce.
2. Add the remaining sugar and the fish sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 20 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out.
3. Stir in the garlic and a dash of sesame oil, and turn back to the lowest setting of the sauté function to reduce the sauce. Add the onions and keep mixing until they’re translucent. Pork should be caramelized and the sauce thickened. Transfer to a bowl with white rice and sprinkle with scallions.

Related post/s:
I can’t find the Instant Pot model I have now, but this is a similar model

Now that I know the magic of Instant Pot with chicken–I mean, 8 minutes? Come on!–I’m going through my favorite chicken dishes and cooking them again using my Instant Pot. With this dish, I didn’t get the sticky consistency I would normally get if I make it on my hot wok, so I had to improvise and add more honey when I was reducing the sauce. I increased the sauté heat from “normal” to its maximum, just like I would on stovetop.

This is even better with kimchi!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1-2 tbsps Gochujang sauce, or Korean chili paste
2 tbsps toasted sesame oil
a knob of ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, grated
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
sesame seeds, toasted
scallions

1. In your Instant Pot, combine 1/4 cup water, the soy sauce, honey, Gochujang sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic. Add the chicken, tossing to coat. Cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 8 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out.
2. You will need to thicken the sauce. Turn the sauté function of your Instant Pot and cook for at least 5 minutes to reduce the sauce until you like the consistency. Feel free to squeeze in another dollop of honey to add more stickiness. Stir a few times to keep coating the chicken.
3. Scoop to a bowl of white rice and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and scallions.

Related post/s:
I can’t find the Instant Pot model I have now, but this is a similar model

It’s a funny thing when you don’t know much about Indian food; you think of the dishes per color: brown sauce, red sauce, yellow sauce, orange sauce. This might not look too pretty or presentable, but it’s super delicious, and it’s the best version I’ve tried and it’s from Two Sleevers. An immersion blender is necessary here–at the very least, a regular blender because you want the sauce to be smooth before you melt the butter into it. You can trade in the coconut milk with heavy cream if that’s more handy.

Cook your rice separately with ghee and a little salt and when you’re ready to eat, scoop up the butter chicken sauce all over the rice and top with a few chicken pieces. And hey, sprinkle cilantro liberally for a touch of green color, why don’t you.

Ingredients:
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
a small knob of ginger, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
2 tsps garam masala, divided
1 tsp cumin, ground
salt
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 stick butter, cut in small pieces
1 large dollop of coconut milk
a handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

1. Combine all the ingredients except the butter, the coconut milk, a tsp of the garam masala, and the cilantro in your Instant Pot. Add the chicken and mix well to cover.
2. Cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 8 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out.
3. Remove the chicken and set aside. (Be gentle with your tongs! The meat falls apart!) Using an immersion blender, blend together the sauce until it’s smooth. Let the sauce cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the butter, coconut milk, cilantro, and garam masala, until butter is melted. Remove half the sauce to a container and save for later. Add the chicken back to the remaining sauce, mix gently, and serve with rice.

Related post/s:
I can’t find the Instant Pot model I have now, but this is a similar model

I might have overwhelmed Ali at the new Yemeni store in my neighborhood because I had specific instructions on how I wanted the lamb shank I was buying cut. He’s used to roasting the entire leg of lamb, not slicing it in large pieces. I told him I was making a tagine with dates, and he finally understood that an entire leg of lamb won’t fit in my pot. He then started rapping with me about North African food and his English-Yemeni roots, and I now have a new friend who will give me a call when fresh oxtails come in in his store.

It is important you trim off the excess fat from the lamb shanks before you try this recipe. With the butter and the cooking in high pressure, my lamb was swimming in fat when it was done. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course, but your guests may be turned off if there’s too much of the good stuff. When you serve the leftovers the next day–yes, there will be leftovers–you can skim the coagulated fat from the top of the sauce before you heat it up.

I loved the red potatoes here because they lent the dish a hearty solid. While the lamb meat was falling off the bone, the large potato chunks were perfectly tender to smash into the couscous with a fork.

Cook your couscous with golden raisins and the sweetness will be a nice addition to the buttery lamb.

Ingredients:
lamb shank, most of the fat trimmed, cut in 2 large pieces to fit the pot, about 4 pounds
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
1 tbsp paprika
2 tsps cumin, ground
2 tbsps butter
1 large onion, sliced
small pinch saffron
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 red potatoes, quartered
1 short piece cinnamon stick
2 tsps ginger powder
1/2 cup chopped dates
a handful of parsley, finely chopped
salt, pepper

1. Season lamb shanks generously with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine garlic, fresh ginger, paprika and cumin, and rub all over shanks. Leave shanks at room temperature to season for at least an hour.
2. Using the sauté function of your Instant Pot, melt butter. Add onion, saffron, and sprinkle with salt. Cook for 5 minutes, until onions are soft. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 minute. Add seasoned shanks and let cook with onions, turning occasionally, until meat and onions are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
3. Add potatoes, cinnamon stick, ginger powder, chopped dates and water to barely cover to the pot. Cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 30 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out. Stir in parsley and serve with couscous.

Related post/s:
I have the Instant Pot DUO60 6 Quart, but this is a similar model, just pricier!

I couldn’t track as to why the original recipe is called Hawaiian oxtail soup. I gather it’s because it has a combination of different Asian flavors that can’t be defined as coming from one country. I liked that; it’s a mutt of a soup!

I love the base broth of this recipe. It reminded me of a Taiwanese stew that uses star anise and dried tangerine peels. If you cook enough Asian food, it’s worth drying some tangerine peels when you buy and eat the fruit—they keep for a long time in a sealed jar. If you don’t have them dried, feel free to use fresh ones, just make sure you remove most of the pith.

The dried shiitakes remind me of Japanese-style hot pot, while the fish sauce, the lime, and cilantro give it a Vietnamese flavor. And perhaps the ginger is a nod to Shanghai.

Look how pretty everything was before I pressurized it. The oxtail gave this soup the body it needed, so I only strained it haphazardly. I figured that the bitterness of the mustard greens will hold off a lot of the fat back and I was right. You can use Swiss chard too, and in a pinch, spinach. After all, mutts are forgiving.

Ingredients:
5 dried shiitake mushrooms
2 lbs oxtails
a small knob ginger, peeled, sliced
4 whole star anise
dried tangerine peel
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
4 cups chicken broth
oil, salt

For soup assembly:
1 lb mustard greens, coarsely chopped
fish sauce
a small knob ginger, peeled, sliced into matchsticks
a handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
2 scallions, chopped
red chile flakes
lime wedges
salt

1. Soak the shiitake mushrooms in a small bowl filled with hot water. Set aside.
2. Using the sauté function of your Instant Pot, add oil and sear the oxtails until evenly browned on all sides. Then add the rest of the soup broth ingredients, plus the shiitakes and water. Add a little more water just to make sure the oxtails are somewhat submerged.
3. Cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 45 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out.
4. Using a spider strainer or a slotted spoon, remove all the solids into a large bowl, and strain the broth into another. Return the strained broth to the Instant Pot and turn on the sauté function again. Add the mustard greens and cook for a minute and season the broth with a jigger or two of fish sauce.
5. To serve, divide the oxtails into your soup bowls, and discard the remaining ingredients. Ladle in the seasoned broth into each and garnish with ginger, cilantro, scallions, red chile flakes, lime, and sprinkle with salt.

Related post/s:
I knew I would use those tangerine peels again, so I dried my own
One of my favorite tools in the kitchen is my spider strainer
I have the Instant Pot DUO60 6 Quart but this is a similar model, just pricier!