Category: Cooking

I'd been waiting a while to post this little recipe. First off, it basically a rehash of my Red Cooked Pork Hock/Oxtail recipe. Secondly, it had been pretty darn hot for a while there. Since it finally feels like fall, the time seems right.

So yes, I did buy one of those Instant Pot 7 in 1 cookers. Mainly because our pressure cooker crapped out a couple of years back and I got tired of spending the entire day making Da Boyz food. I'd rather make the chicken-carrot-rice thing in a pressure cooker. What happened was interesting. I got the Instant Pot during Amazon Prime day for around $69. The Missus loves Her red cooked meats and one weekend requested that I make some short ribs. And so it came to pass….for 8 of the following 10 weekends I made this, only stoping when we left on our trip.

And while this is basically my red cooked stove top/braised meat recipe; there are some differences I made for using the Instant Pot. First off, I ended up reducing the water, because there's very little evaporation, so too much water waters things down. Second, the Missus loves mushroom in this; so why not add the strained mushroom soaking liquid as another layer of flavor. Third, because I wouldn't be there removing scum; after marinated the beef for about 15-20 minutes, I dusted it with cornstarch and browned. The Instant Pot has a saute setting which is great for softening vegetables, but it really doesn't do much for meat. Plus, the pot is quite small and I'd have to do more batches than if I did this on the stovetop. Fourth, the pressure in the Instant Pot is about 11 – 12 psi, versus a conventional pressure cooker, which, if I recall comes in at about 15psi. This means that cooking time takes a bit longer. Also, things are pretty easy with the Instant Pot, when finished you can do a quick release, check, and do another short session if you need to.

This may seem like a lot of steps but it really isn't and is rather quick. It's all about organization. Be careful not to overfill your instant pot!

I enjoy this over noodles; a pseudo niu rou mian for me.

Red Cooked Short Ribs Instant Pot Style:

3 1/2 – 4 pounds English Style Beef Short Ribs sliced to a 1 1/2 – 2" width
12-14 dried shiitake mushroom soaked in 1-1/2 cup warm water
2/3 Cup + 2 Tb Soy sauce
1/3 Cup Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
2/3 Cup + 2Tb + 1/4 Cup Shao Xing Wine
5 cloves garlic roughly chopped
1-2 1/2" knobs of ginger smashed
3 Star Anise broken in half
4 Scallions – white part only, roughly chopped
1 piece dried tangerine peel broken in half
1 2-3" cinnamon stick
1 Red Serrano Pepper sliced
1/2 tsp Ground White Pepper
1 Tb Granulated Garlic
1 Tsp Five Spice
1 Tb Ground Sichuan Peppercorn
2 – 3 Tb Corn Starch
1 Cup strained mushroom soaking liquid
2  – 2 1/2 Cups Water
2Tb Avocado or similar neutral flavored oil
1 – 2 Blocks Tofu
6 – 8 Boiled Eggs
Steamed Bok Choy

– Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 1/2 cup warm water
– In a pan rub the ribs with 2 Tb Soy Sauce, 2 Tb Shao Xing, Ground White Pepper, Sichuan Peppercorn, Granulated Garlic – let marinate
– Prep and combine garlic, scallions, and Five Spice
– Prep and combine ginger, star anise, tangerine peel, cinnamon stick, serrano pepper
– In a bowl combine 2/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup dark soy sauce, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
– Strain about 1 cup of the mushroom soaking liquid
– Dust the short ribs with corn starch and start browning in oil on the stove top in batches.
– Once the beef has completed browning deglaze with 1/4 cup Shao Xing wine.
– Use the fat and liquid from the beef (do not add burnt bits) to the Instant Pot and set on saute
– Add dry ingredients and saute until fragrant
– Add the garlic-scallions to the pot and saute until fragrant and soft
– Add 2/3 cup Shao Xing wine and bring to a boil
– Layer the mushrooms on top of the spice and scallion mixture
– Add the mushroom soaking liquid
– Layer the beef ribs in even layers
– Add the soy sauce mixture
– Top off with water. First using only 2 cups, then more if necessary. Do not use more than 2 1/2 cups. Adjust and mix the beef if necessary
– Cover and set to 45 minutes high pressure
– Once complete do a quick release of pressure. At this point, use a wooden skewer or similar item to determine how tender the beef is. If more time is necessary set to high pressure for 10 more minutes
– Once done, you may find that some of the bones have come out of the meat remove them. You can skim off excess fat if desired. This gives you more room to add the drained tofu and boiled eggs.
– You can put on slow cook for up to 20-30 minutes before serving. Though it's actually better the next day.

The first dish that comes to mind when I think about Chamorro style dishes is Kelaguen, specifically Kelaguen Manok, the chicken version of the dish which is what you'll find in all the Chamorro/Guamanian restaurants in the greater San Diego area. After making the drive up to Guahan Grill a couple of times early last year with the Missus, She asked if I could just go ahead and try and make the stuff already.

So I did….after a couple of tries, I had it kind of dialed in. The Missus has a couple of coworkers who are from Guam and they make Kelaguen a lot….mostly using leftover rotisserie chicken and…ick, boiled chicken! After trying things a few different ways; I've settled on boneless, skin on chicken "legs", actually quarters, grilled over hard wood charcoal. Again, this is "kind of Kelaguen"…… I noticed that versions I've had here in San Diego lacked coconut. My solution was to use organic, non-sweetened coconut flakes and a tablespoon or so of coconut oil, which adds to the moisture, and provides for a nice fragrance. I use skin on chicken because it tends to preserve the moisture of the meat.

Even with all of this; I noticed that I could not get the lemon flavor dialed in; it just never came out the way I wanted. That's when one of the Missus's co-workers told Her that everybody "back home" uses "Yours Lemon Flavored Powder"! Which I wasn't able to find here, but you gotta love it; I actually found it on Amazon. I was a bit dubious about this stuff…looking at the label, "Ingredients: Citric Acid (Trehalose), Natural Lemon Flavor, L-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Sodium Citrate. Made in Japan." Hmmm……

But in the end, this is what I needed to make the Kelaguen taste right.

At the same time, I was trying to put together the classic sauce/condiment for the kelaguen; Finadene (Fina'denne). After going thru a couple of iterations, I found that rather strangely, since I've said not to use said shoyu for sauces; Kikkoman actually worked the best for me. Along with Distilled White Vinegar and one other item to give it just a bit more umph; Spiced Sukang Maasim (cane vinegar). The slight spice and sour gave it a nice kick. As for the chilies….I've used everything from Chili de Arbol, Thai Chilies, Red Habaneros, Scorpion Peppers, to Ghost Peppers……it's all good! Actually the Missus is partial to white ghost peppers.

So now the Missus's Guamanian coworkers actually request that I make this; so I guess it's got their seal of approval.

The Missus really likes to saturate Her Kelaguen with Finadene. And I've actually used the Finadene in other dishes….even stir fried bean sprouts which come out like namul on jet fuel.

Kind of Kelaguen:

The Chicken
1 1/2 lbs of skin-on boneless chicken quarters
salt
black pepper
granulated garlic
one lemon sliced in half
ghost pepper salt (optional)

– Season the meat side of the chicken with salts and black pepper
– Season the skin side of the chicken with salts, black pepper, and granulated garlic
– Grill over charcoal. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the chicken while grilling
– Once the chicken is cooked, remove to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

1 Tb coconut oil
1-2 Tb shredded coconut
2-3 stalks scallions sliced
1 Tb Yours Lemon Flavored Powder diluted into 2 Tb water
salt, black pepper, and sliced chilies to taste

-Remove the chicken from the bowl reserving the juices; the objective is to conserve all the flavor you can.
– Remove the skin from the chicken and consume later….it tastes really good fried up.
– Chop or mince the chicken to your desired texture and add back to the bowl with the juices from the chicken
– Add coconut oil, coconut, scallions, and chilies and mix
– Add the lemon flavoring mixing well.
– Season with Salt and Pepper to taste.

I'm going to give you what I started with when I decided on my final array of ingredients for the Finadene. Think of this as being a 1:1 ratio of soy sauce to vinegar. I think it's a good starting point. You can adjust to your taste from here. Actually, you might like to add some calamansi juice to replace some of the vinegar.

Fast Finadene:
1/2 cup of Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Distilled White Vinegar
2 Tb Spiced Sukang Maasim
2 stalks of scallions sliced
1 small sweet onion thinly sliced
sliced chilies to taste

-Combine ingredients. Taste and adjust flavor as desired.

Enjoy!