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!
Ever since I got my new Instant Pot, I've been on a mission to convert local favorites done over the stovetop. So far they have been a success and it's allowing me to get the wheels turning in my head on how to adapt to the IP.
I can't tell you how much faster it takes to cook and about the tenderness of the meat in the IP. The faster cooking time is what really helps me when we're shuffling in between multiple activities for the family.
Sometime last week I managed to cook Filipino pork and peas (guisantes) in the IP. This turned out as another keeper in the IP rotation menu. Here is the recipe as follows.
PORK AND PEAS (GUISANTES)
Another stove top to IP conversion a success! I made a Filipino dish called Pork Guisantes (Pork and Peas) which is pork in a tomato base sauce with frozen peas and pimientos. I just winged it based on my recent IP practice cooking and it went a little something like this...
Ingredients:
2 lbs chopped pork (I used pork shoulder)
1 can chicken broth
1/2 onion chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
1-12oz can tomato paste
1 bag frozen sweet peas
2 small jars diced pimientos
1/3 cup Patis (fish sauce)
3-4 bay leaves (I didn't out any since I didn't realize I was out of them)
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Sauté pork, onions, and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, tomato paste, and patis. Stir to incorporate. Cancel sauté and hit meat. Adjust time to 7 minutes. NPR for 10 min, then QR. Remove lid. Add frozen peas, pimientos, and S&P to season. Stir.
Now for this part you could let it simmer on sauté at low temp to let the frozen peas to cook through OR pressure cook for 1 minute. I chose the latter just to experiment since this was my first time make this particular dish in the IP. I placed the lid back on and set it for 1 minute on manual. Then did about 8 min NPR and QR. It ended up working out perfectly! Season more if you like to your preference and enjoy over hot rice. MANGAN TAYON (Let's Eat!)!
