I can't believe that I never posted an Instant Pot recipe or video of me making Japanese Beef Curry Stew. I first started making this when I got my IP two and a half years ago and it's WAY better in the IP. It only takes 25 minutes IP cooking time and the meat is so tender. There's no need to let it simmer for hours to get the meat soft. A few years back I previously posted the stove top version of this recipe and I'm happy to say that I now have an IP version. Ingredients are all the same, just with a few minor adjustments for the IP conversion.
INSTANT POT JAPANESE BEEF CURRY STEW
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 lbs. chuck roast, cut into cubes 2 tbsp. garlic, minced 2 cups baby carrots 1 cup celery, chopped 2 large russet potatoes, cut into large cubes 1/2 onion, diced
4 cups water 1 large or 2 small pkgs. S&B curry sauce
oil
DIRECTIONS:
Turn IP on to saute and add about 2 tbsp. of oil. Add stew meat and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and celery and stir. Add carrots, potatoes, and water. Cover with lid. Hit meat/stew button and adjust timer to 25 minutes. Be sure pressure valve is at sealing. When timer is over, let NPR for 10 minutes and then QR. If liquid starts to leak out of valve, just slowly release the valve to let the pressure release slowly. Once pressure pin drops, open lid and gently stir the pot. Turn off IP and turn on to saute. Let come to boil and add curry blocks. Gently stir until curry blocks are dissolved.
I'm so happy I've finally made the attempt to make on of my favorite Filipino comfort foods in the Instant Pot which was Lechon Kawali. I've made this several times in the oven but with its high fat content and with the high oven temperature, it would smoke out my kitchen. Plus it took a while for it to cook too. So since I've been slowly trying to convert nearly everything I cook via stove top or oven, I knew there had to be a way to at least prep cook the pork belly and finish off with broiling the top layer of fat.
My local Costco sells pork belly cut into about 2-inch or so thick slices. I normally use his cut of meat to marinate in a char siu sauce and layer grill on the BBQ. I finally had a very late epiphany to try to make Lechon Kawali with it and finally did so a few days ago. I just seasoned each pork slice with black pepper and garlic salt, added 1 cup of water to the IP liner, and set the cooking time for 20 minutes. Once done I sliced each pork piece and baked for 10 minutes. Set oven to broil and broiled each side for about 7 minutes each time. Everything worked in my favor and it turned out SO delicious!
I maybe could have broiled it a little more longer but I got impatience and hungry 😝. Next time I make this though, I'm going to try the baking and broiling without slicing up the pork beforehand. I'll just leave it in whole slices so I can get the top layer of fat more crispier.
After the Lechon was done cooking, I turned it into a specialty dish well known at a local Filipino restaurant in Hawaii (Thelma's of Waipahu) called the Thelma's Special. Which is pretty much lechon with chipped yellow onions, chopped tomatoes, and seasoned with shoyu and apple cider vinegar. I got my Waipahu raised hubby's seal of approval and said it's nearly like the real thing 😄. So for your eating pleasure here is the recipe.
INSTANT POT LECHON KAWALI & "THELMA'S SPECIAL"
INGREDIENTS:
4 lbs boneless pork belly
Black pepper
Garlic salt
1 cup water
DIRECTIONS:
Season all sides of pork belly with black pepper and garlic salt. Add water to instant pot liner. Add pork slices to liner. Cover with lid and set timer to manual for 20 minutes. Be sure valve is at sealing. When timer is done, let NPR 10 minutes and then QPR. Heat oven to bake at 400 degrees. Remove pork from IP. Slice pork into 1-inch pieces and place onto wire rack on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. When done, change oven temperature to broil. Broil one side of pork for about 7 minutes or until you see it crisping over enough...just keep your eye on it. Remove from oven and flip pork pieces to opposite side and broil the other side to repeat process. Once done remove from oven and let cool. Serve with lechon sauce or use pork to make your very own "Thelma's Special".
"THELMA'S SPECIAL"
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup shoyu
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
DIRECTIONS:
Place cooked lechon in bowl. Add tomatoes and onions. Mix shoyu and vinegar. Pour about half of mixture over pork and vegetables. Add more to taste. Then ENJOY!
As I'm sitting here drafting this post, I realize it's pretty much the same way as my IP kalua pig is made but with different seasonings. All you need to do is just add some pork gravy, rice, and corn (Mac salad preferred 😉) and you've got your own local style plate lunch. My hubby even compared it to an Ige's plate lunch but I won't be tooting my horn just yet 😆. Here's the recipe for you to see if it's plate lunch worthy 😉.
INSTANT POT: ROAST PORK
4-5 lbs pork butt or shoulder (cut into 2-inch thickness)
Coconut oil or preference
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 medium chopped white onion
Garlic salt
Black pepper
1 cup chicken broth
4 packets pork gravy, prepare to directions
Cornstarch
Water
Directions:
Turn IP on to sauté and add oil. Add onions and cook until semi soft. Add pork and season with garlic salt and pepper. Add minced garlic and chicken broth. Place cover on IP, cancel sauté, hit meat button, and set timer to 35 min. Be sure valve is on sealing. While pork is cooking, prepare gravy to package directions and set aside. When timer on IP is up, let NPR for 10 minutes then QR. Remove lid and remove pork to a separate clean bowl and shred into big chunks. Hit cancel on IP and turn sauté on. Add prepared pork gravy to pot and let come to boil. Mix a slurry of cornstarch and water. Add to gravy mixture and let thicken. Once thickened, add pork back into pot. Serve with rice and preferred side dish. All I had was corn although mac salad would've been preferred 😉😝.
We've been experiencing 35*+ weather lately. Even got some snow today and expecting freezing rain overnight. Made chicken papaya for dinner last night and it was such comfort food for this weather.
Instant Pot: Chicken Papaya
Ingredients:
3 lbs defrosted chicken wings
1 large green papaya, peeled, seeds removed, and cut into 1-2 inch cubes
2 medium chopped tomatoes
1/2 onions sliced
1-2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp patis, more can be added to taste
2 cups water
Shoyu to taste
Black pepper
Coconut oil
Directions:
Hit sauté. Add some coconut oil, onions, and garlic and cook 1-2 min. Add tomatoes and store 1-2 min. Add chicken wings, water, and patis. Stir. Close lid and move valve to sealing. Cancel sauté and hit chicken option. Adjust time to 5 minutes. Let NPR for 10 minutes and then QPR. Add papaya and stir. Reclose lid and change valve to sealing. Cancel keep warm and hit soup option. Adjust time to 2 minutes. Let NPR 10 min and then QPR. Add black pepper, shoyu, and more patis to taste. Enjoy!
**I wasn't sure about cooking the papaya at the time time with the chicken for fear of turning it into mush. After I did the second round of cooking I kind of overlooked the wings and the papaya was perfect but still al dente. I could very well cooked everything all at once for 5 minutes and it would've turned out fine. I have one more green papaya left, maybe I'll make another batch of soup to test that theory 😝.
I first made this a long while ago in the crockpot and then stovetop. I've actually never eaten this soup before at Olive Garden but a friend brought for a party and it was such comfort food. Now that I have an Instant Pot I of course had to make this soup in it. It only took about 10 minutes prepping time to cut the veggies and bacon. Then 5 minutes to cook on the soup function, NPR (natural pressure release), and then to QR (quick release). Super quick dinner to make and it tasted just as good if not better than when done in the crockpot and stove top. Here's the recipe.
4 cups chicken broth (forgot to include in first pic and in the 4th pic it looks like gel because I used turkey broth I made in the IP a few days ago)
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Directions:
Sauté Italian sausage till no longer pink. Add onions and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add potatoes and broth. Hit cancel, cover with lid, hit soup, and adjust time to 5 minutes. Make sure valve is on sealing. While IP is going, I separately brown bacon and drain fat. Let NPR for 10 min, then QPR. Cancel keep warm button and hit sauté. Add heavy whipping cream, chopped kale, and bacon. Season with black pepper. Enjoy!
I keep forgetting to post about this and it's been sitting in my pending posts. Plus I got kinda lazy with blog posting and on the Facebook IP group. I ended up making this last night and figured I get it rolling again 😉. Bonus, I included a little vid with some island flavah 😆.
Our normal 2 hour oven baked Kalua pig cooked in the IP for 25 minutes. Overall cooking time of prepping, quick sauté, pressurizing, and depressurizing in about 45 minutes. SAY WHAT 😳😃😱😉👍🏼!
I just did what we normally do for our oven baked version and adjusted the measurements for the seasonings a bit. Just to account for the saltiness. You can always season more after cooking but during the cooking process you're pretty much outta luck.
We've always cut our pork butt or shoulder into about 1 1/2-inch slices, laid into a 13"x9" baking pan, seasoned it with shoyu, Hawaiian salt, & liquid smoke (I've made this so many times that I don't even measure but will give an approximate), added some water, covered with foil, and baked at 400* for two hours. The slicing of the pork makes it cook faster and makes for easier shredding.
Now today I converted that method to the IP and it worked like a charm. I kept going over other recipes for Kalua pig but just couldn't shake that it takes just as long in the IP as it does when I cook in the oven. Then my hubby told me why fix something that isn't broke and just do it the same oven way (ingredients wise) but cut the time for the IP. So I did and it went a little something like this...
PS - Thank goodness it worked as a trial run since I just scored 5 pork butts on a price cut for our son's bday party the next weekend. Used one of those for this experiment 😃😉👍🏼.
KALUA PIG
INGREDIENTS:
3 1/2 lb - 4lb boneless port butt or shoulder (if you have bone-in, it's fine. Just slice and cut around bone) sliced into 1 1/2-inch slices.
Liquid smoke
Hawaiian salt
Shoyu
Water
Coconut oil or preference.
DIRECTIONS:
Slice pork into about 1 1/2 inch slices. Hit sauté, add some oil, and brown slices a little on both sides. Cancel sauté. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp. Hawaiian salt. Drizzle about 1/4 cup shoyu over pork. Drizzle about 2 tbsp liquid smoke over pork. Add 1 cup water. Cover with lid and be sure valve is at sealing. Hit meat and adjust time to 25 minutes. When done let NPR for 10!minutes, then QR. Remove lid and remove pork pieces from liquid to separate bowl for shedding. Reserve liquid if you want to keep meat less dry or use as broth for Kalua pig and cabbage.
I've had success with slowly converting all the local Hawaii dishes that I cook via stovetop to the Instant Pot. A few weeks ago I conquered a beef luau stew. It's Hawaiian beef stew made with luau leaves (taro leaves) and coconut milk. Normally this takes me a few hours to cook on the stove in order to get the meat tender and to cook the fresh leaves properly. Not cooking down the leaves properly results with you experiencing an itchy throat when eating it. Here's my mock up recipe that I just typed up 😉👍🏼.
Cleaned and cut off stems of luau leaves. Chop leaves and add to pot with 8 cups water. Sprinkle some Hawaiian salt and push leaves into water. Cook on manual for 15 min. Let NPR for 10, then quick release. Drain leaves. I ended up doing two cooking batches of the leaves since I didn't want to overflow the pot.
PART 2:
Cut chuck roast into big chunks. Sauté meat with coconut oil. Add sliced onions, garlic, 4 cups chicken broth, and cooked luau leaves. Stir to incorporate. Cancel sauté and cook on Meat/Stew for 25 min. Let NPR for 10 min, then quick release. Cancel keep warm and hit sauté. Add two cans of coconut milk and stir. Season to taste. Enjoy!
About a month ago my brother came in from Seattle for a visit be had been curious on how my Instant Pot works since I had been posting about it on Facebook. He was pretty amazed that I could cook a local Hawaii favorite is Shoyu Chicken in less than half the time over the stove. This batch I made in the IP took only 8 minutes since it was a mixture of bone in chicken thighs and drumsticks. I had thought I had grabbed a tray of all bone in thighs at the store but this worked out really well. I later cooked a tray of all bone in thighs for a different dish and found I had to cook it in the IP for 12 minutes.
So depending on what cut of chicken you are using, you will have to adjust the cooking time. This recipe will be based on what I have done so far.
Here's the recipe.
INSTANT POT SHOYU CHICKEN
Ingredients:
1 tray of chicken thighs and drumsticks
1 cup shoyu (Aloha Brand preferred)
1 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
Few slices of ginger
Coconut oil or preference
Chopped green onion
Cornstarch and water for slurry
Directions:
Sautéed chicken thighs and drumsticks in coconut oil and set aside. Deglazed the bits with water, shoyu, added sliced ginger, and brown sugar. Added the chicken, cancel sauté, and hit chicken for 8 minutes. NPR 8 minutes and then QR. I removed chicken, hit sauté to thicken sauce with cornstarch and water and added chopped green onion. Placed chicken back to pot. Enjoy!
For this past Christmas hubby asked me what I wanted. I thought and thought about it and decided in between an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker or a TRX workout system (well the cheaper but comparable WOSS system) and a high density foam roller. Hubby had asked me this question before Black Friday rolled up and after much thought I decided on an Instant Pot after hearing rave reviews from a few friends who have one.
We already have a stove top pressure cooker but I'm always afraid to use it for fear of it exploding like how in the movie Radio Flyer. We also have a crockpot which I use a lot, but with getting an Instant Pot I can eliminate both gadgets and just have one to do the same work. Plus it's electronic and all I have to do press a few buttons and it does the magic.
The first meal I ended up cooking in it was a rack of St Louis baby back ribs and it only took 30 minutes to cook! That is the actual cooking time after the pot has come to pressure. It took maybe about 15-20 minutes for the pot to pressurize, then the actual magic started.
Since this was my very first thing to make in the IP (I will be using this abbreviation to refer to the Instant Pot frequently) I was nervous as heck and didn't want to screw it up. Especially since my hubby was skeptical in getting it for me. I went to the university of YouTube to find an easy enough recipe to follow and I found this recipe by Great Chow and I had all the ingredients on hand.
After this was done cooking, it literally did fall off the bone. The meat was so tender and flavorful after I did the BBQ sauce glaze in the oven. The only thing I'd change for next time is to use less apple cider vinegar. Otherwise, this was better than when I make it in the oven.
Here is the link to Great Chow's website for the recipe. Really easy to follow and delicious.
