Spicy Pulled Pork InstantPot, InstantGratification
I just received an InstantPot pressure cooker for my birthday! This is right up my alley since I am a KITCHEN GADGET FREAK. Not exaggerating, I love kitchen appliances. I am the “what was I thinking, forehead slap” owner of donut hole pans, a strawberry corer, spiralizer, brownie squares pan, sous vide thingy, Ebelskiver pan, bread machine, the list goes on and on…
When I was a kid I went to Woolworth’s with my mom (yes baby boomers, Woolworth’s, remember?) in anticipation of a slice of their delicious gooey cheese pizza. Instead, I found myself in front of a demonstration booth, entranced. A voice boomed “it slices, it dices, it does it all. This is going to revolutionize cooking and help you escape from the kitchen” I watched as he deftly created mountains of julienned squash, chopped onions, sliced carrots, even waffle-cut potatoes. How I convinced my mom to buy this new fangled tool I will never know. But we walked out of Woolworth’s, a slice of cheese pizza in one hand and a Slice-o-Matic with a bonus Chop-o-Matic in the other! These days if I go to the mall with my kids they know there will be the prerequisite stop at Sur La Table or Williams Sonoma to peruse because YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY Kitchen tools.
The Pressures Off with an Instant Pot
The Instant Pot is the latest, hippest iteration of a pressure cooker. There are blogs, Facebook pages, and books devoted to the Instapot. It is a slow cooker, saute pan, rice cooker, yogurt maker all in one. For you tech geeks you can download the app and program it using your phone. Crazy huh.
A few weeks ago NYT Cooking published Melissa Clark’s recipe for Pressure Cooker Spicy Pork Shoulder along with a video of her using the Instant Pot. It’s easy and delicious and best of all cuts cooking time by at least half.
The liberal use of Korean chili flakes and Kochuchang, a sweet chili pepper paste in the sauce adds an Asian flair. If you are a pulled pork fan you will absolutely love this version. Marinade the pork in a mixture of chili flakes, honey, salt, and garlic overnight and then brown it the next day. Then saute’ the pork in the Instapot (which surprisingly took less time than I imagined) until browned. Add a bit of water, twist and clamp the lid shut, set the timer for 70 minutes, and chill out for a couple of minutes before making the sauce. Easy peasy.
Fusion BBQ Sauce
The sauce is made with chili paste, ketchup, garlic, fish sauce, honey, and ginger. As delicious as this sauce is it packs a punch in heat and flavor. A little goes a long way so add the sauce in small increments to taste.
The first day we shredded the pork, mixed in bbq sauce and juice (from the Instant Pot), and broiled the pork to crisp the edges. We served it on a bed of rice with sliced cucumbers and carrots, a Porki Bowl (get it?).
The quiet nods and hmms as we ate confirmed we had a winner.
This makes a more than generous amount of pulled pork. Luckily the kids were home for spring break and made quick work of the pork. Beyond our rice bowls, we had it with scrambled eggs for breakfast and in Hawaiian sweet rolls with a cabbage slaw for lunch. So good! This is a definite keeper.
The maiden voyage of my Instant Pot was a resounding success. Can’t wait for another opportunity to use it.
InstantPot Spicy Pork Shoulder from NYT
Ingredients
- 5 garlic cloves grated on a Microplane or minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
- 1 tablespoon Korean chile flakes gochugaru or other chile flakes (Maras, Aleppo or crushed red pepper)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 5 pounds boneless pork shoulder cut into two or three pieces
FOR THE SAUCE:
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 4 garlic cloves grated on a Microplane
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
- ⅓ cup gochujang Korean chile paste or other chile paste or sauce such as Sriracha
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
FOR THE SESAME PICKLED CUCUMBERS:
- 6 Persian cucumbers thinly sliced (or about 4 cups sliced cucumbers)
- 1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
Instructions
- To prepare pork, combine garlic, brown sugar, chile flakes, salt and pepper. Rub marinade all over pork. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to up to 24 hours.
- Set electric pressure cooker to sauté (or use a large skillet). Add pork in batches and sear until browned all over, about 2 minutes per side. Add 3/4 cup water to pot (or to skillet to deglaze, then move to pot), cover, and set to cook for 90 minutes on high pressure. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot so it doesn't scorch or the pot will turn off.
- While pork cooks, prepare sauce: In a small pot, warm peanut oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger, and sauté until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Set sauce aside. (It can be made up to 1 week ahead and stored in the refrigerator.)
- Manually release steam. Let pork cool until you can handle it, then shred it into bite-size pieces. Pork can be made in advance.
- While pork cools, strain liquid from bottom of pot. Pour off fat (or chill liquid, then scoop off solidified fat with a spoon). Reserve.
Cucmber Salad
- Prepare cucumbers: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except sesame seeds, and let sit, tossing one or twice, for at least 20 minutes. Stir in sesame seeds.
- To serve, heat broiler. Toss pork with sauce and 1 to 2 tablespoons cooking liquid — just enough so pork is evenly coated but not wet or runny. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet, and broil until crisp on top, 2 to 3 minutes a little char is fine. Think burnt ends or tips, those are yummy.
- Make a porki bowl! Top steamed rice with generous portion of pork and cucumbers. . Or make sliders with an Asian slaw
Addendum: St. Patrick’s Day, a week later was the perfect time to use the Instant Pot. Literally threw corned beef, pickling spices, an onion, and some garlic in the pot. An hour and a half later I had a platter of tender melt in your mouth corned beef with cabbage, potatoes and carrots (ok I slightly mis-timed the vegys so a bit on soft side) on the table. It’s a good thing.