Instant Pot Beef Curry Stew

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. 

Serve over hot rice and enjoy!

Instant Pot: Chicken Papaya

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 😝.

Instant Pot: Zuppa Toscana

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.

Instant Pot: Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden Knockoff)

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian sausage

3 russet potatoes, cubed

1/2 onion, diced

2 tbsp minced garlic 

1 pkg bacon (I used 2 pkgs, well because bacon 😝)

1 bunch kale, removed from stem and chopped

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!

Instant Pot Beef Luau Stew

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 😉👍🏼. 

INGREDIENTS:

Luau leaves (taro leaves) stems & fibrous veins removed

8 cups water

Hawaiian salt

3 lb chuck roast 

1/2 onion

2 tbsp minced garlic

4 cups chicken broth 

2 cans coconut milk

Salt & pepper to taste 

DIRECTIONS:

PART I:

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!

Instant Pot Pork & Tabungao (Opo Squash)

I make this Filipino dish all the time over the stove. It's such comfort food for us and we like it soup like. When a make the Filipino Port Guisantes (Pork & Peas) a few weeks back in the Instant Pot, I knew I could do the same with this dish too. This too took only seven minutes cooking time (after pressurizing) in the IP when it normally takes about an hour total over the stovetop. 

Here's the recipe!

Instant Pot Pork & Tabungao (Opo Squash)

3 lbs chopped pork butt or shoulder

1/2 onion sliced

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 ripe tomatoes, chopped

2 medium sized tabungao (Opo squash), peeled and sliced

1/4 cup patis (fish sauce), 

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups chichiron (fried pork rinds), optional

1 cup dried shrimp, optional 

Black pepper to season 

Oil

Directions:

Sauté pork, onion, garlic, and oil in the Instant Pot for about 5 minutes. Cancel sauté. Add chicken broth, patis, and squash. Mix well. Seal lid and be sure valve is on sealing. Hit meat button and adjust time to 7 minutes. When done let it NPR (normal pressure release) for 10 minutes, then do a QR (quick release) of the valve. Remove lid, turn off IP, and hit sauté. Add tomatoes, dried shrimp, chichiron, and black pepper. Mix well and let cook till last remaining ingredients are soft. Taste broth and add more patis if needed to your preference. 

MANGAN TAYON!

Instant Pot Shoyu Chicken

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!

Instant Pot Pork Adobo

Made another favorite Filipino dish in the IP the other night called Pork Adobo. Which is pork simmered in vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic. It turned out so yummy! Yummier than when I cook it over the stove top. My own adapted recipe as follows:

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 lb. pork butt or shoulder cut into large cubes

1 cup soy sauce 

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1-2 tbsp minced garlic

3-4 bay leaves 

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp oregano (optional, hubby just likes to add this) 

Coconut oil or your preference

DIRECTIONS: 

Sauté pork with some oil for about 5 minutes. Add remainder of ingredients and mix. Cancel sauté and hit meat adjust time to 25 minutes. Be sure valve is at sealing. Let NPR for 10 minutes and then QR. Serve over hot rice. Enjoy!

**I failed to mention that since I did use a pork butt that was kinda fatty, there was lots of oil after it was done. I just used a slotted spoon to drain the fat upon eating. When I stored the leftovers overnight, I just scraped out the solidified fat in the morning and it was less oily.**

Spaghetti Squash in the Instant Pot

Have you ever tried cooking a spaghetti squash? The standard way is to bake it in the oven or steam it in the microwave.  I only recently discovered spaghetti squash a few months ago and fell in love with it as a rice and noodle replacement. 

Since I had never cooked one before I had to look it up on Pinterest on the best way to do so. I found that the best way to yield longer "noodles" was to slice the squash into about 2-inch slices rather than cutting in half horizontally prior to baking.  Although this was a much better method, it was pretty scary to cut through the tough shell without cutting any fingertips off. Thankfully there were no casualties for myself. 

Now that I have an Instant Pot, I discovered that I could cook a spaghetti squash whole in it. SAY WHAT?! I just had to test it out and worked like a charm. The shell pretty much slid off like a glove. I'm totally now making my squash in the IP. The best part is not having to cut into the squash before hand. 

Here's the easiest recipe ever ;). 

SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Ingredients:

1 whole spaghetti squash (be sure to use one that will fit your pot insert)

1 cup water

Directions:

Add 1 cup water into instant pot. Place trivet into pot and add squash. Close kid, move valve to seal, and press manual button and adjust time to 15-20 minutes depending on size of squash. Do a quick release when done and check for doneness of squash. Cook few minutes longer if middle isn't cooked through. Peel shell, remove seeds, and shred squash. 

My Christmas Gift

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. 

https://greatchow.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/bbq-ribs-the-greatest-fall-of-the-bone-braised-baby-back-ribs/