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Finished pot of stew

Pork and Root Vegetable Stew with Miso (Instant Pot)

A warming stew made in the pressure cooker, featuring a mix of seasonal root vegetables and pork, in a rich broth with a Japanese-inspired seasoning flair.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Broth Cooking Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Main Course, One Dish, Stews
Cuisine: Appalachian, Fusion, Japanese-inspired, Northern European
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

The Pork Broth (to make 2L)
  • 750 g bony long-cooking cuts of pork (1.5 lbs.) like country style ribs, revbensspjäll, the bone end of a shoulder cut, or a mix of ribs and neckbones
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil of choice to sear
  • 2 L water
  • 1 tsp table salt
Stew Vegetables
  • 2 medium-large onions quartered
  • 6 cloves garlic lightly smashed with flat of knife to remove the skin
  • 3 medium carrots
  • 3-4 large firm-cooking potatoes or equivalent
  • 1 rutabaga / kålrot / swede
  • OR 3-4 large turnips or equivalent in smaller ones
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil of choice (optional) for frying onion and garlic
Stew Seasonings
  • 1 large slice ginger or 2-3 smaller
  • 1-2 bay leaves
  • ¼ tsp coarsely ground pepper
  • 1 piece dried kombu kelp (2-3 inch or 5-7cm length, or one of the knots as shown here)
  • 1.5 tsp gluten free soy sauce
  • 3-4 tbsp light colored miso, divided to taste, for saltiness
  • extra pepper to serve

Method
 

  1. Making The Rich Pork Broth
  2. This will make 2L of broth, where we will be using half of that here.
    If you only want enough broth for this pot of stew, reduce the quantities accordingly.
  3. Set the pressure cooker to "Brown/Saute Low", and add the tablespoon of oil.
    Sear the meat on both sides. Tongs are very handy to move it around.
    Spareribs searing in the Instant Pot
  4. Sear in batches if you need to, and keep aside until it's all done.
    All the seared meat in a bowl
  5. When that's done, return it to the pot and add the water and salt.
    Water over pork in the pot
  6. Pressure cook on "Manual - High" for 25 minutes.
    This is a good time to prep the vegetables.
    When the meat finishes, let the pot sit for 15 minutes before touching the valve.
  7. Pull the meat out and set it aside to cool enough to pull the bones out. I pulled them loose with the tongs while it was still very hot.
    Cooked meat in a dish
  8. Optional: Return the bones to the broth pot, and pressure cook for another 15 minutes. Let the pressure natural release for 10-15 minutes again before opening the valve.
    Bowl of pork mostly rib bones next to a dish of the meat off them
  9. Pour the broth through a strainer into another pot, and clean the pressure cooker's inner pot.
    A strainer of bones sits over a pot of broth
  10. The finished broth is ready. I'm saving half of it to use later, as detailed in the earlier chicken broth recipe.
    Finished pot of broth
  11. My reserved broth for later.
    A liter Pyrex measuring cup of pork broth
Vegetable Prep
  1. Wash, peel as desired (these potatoes didn't need it), and cut the vegetables into fairly large chunks which should take roughly the same cooking time. I went for bigger than bite-sized, which is pretty traditional in similar dishes where I'm from.
    Cut up root vegetables for the stew
  2. Quarter the onions, or cut them into sixths if they're bigger. Lightly smash the garlic cloves with the flat of a knife, to slip the skins off.
Cooking The Stew
  1. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the pressure cooker on "Brown/Saute". Mine heats very hot on high, so again I used the low setting.
    Add the onions and garlic. Stir fry them around for a few minutes, until they just start getting some color for the extra flavor.
    Lightly browned onion and garlic.
  2. Add in the rest of the chunked vegetables and the stew seasonings.
    Vegetables in the pot.
  3. Take part of your broth into a smaller pan or bowl, and rub 2-3 tablespoons of miso into it through a strainer.
    Use enough now to give a slightly salty taste for cooking the vegetables. We are depending on the miso for much of the salt in this dish, but more will go in later for the more complex flavor. (So, keep the semall pan and strainer to the side to use again.)
    How much you need will depend a lot on the miso you're using and your personal taste. Yuto Omura goes into more detail about good miso choices for a soup similar to this here.
    A spoonful of miso over a wire mesh strainer set into a small pan of broth
  4. Cover with all the (1L or quart) of broth. If it doesn't quite reach the top of your vegetables, add a little extra water as required.
    The vegetables covered with seasoned broth
  5. Pressure cook on "Manual - High" for 10 minutes.
    Let the pressure natural release for 15-20 minutes again before opening the valve.
  6. Add the bite-sized chunks of reserved meat into the stew, and let simmer for a few minutes.
    Reserved meat in a dish
  7. Taste the broth for seasoning, and carefully pour some broth off to add more miso to adjust the flavor.
    Finished pot of stew
  8. Gently stir up from the bottom a bit as you serve, because the miso particles tend to sink to the bottom of the pot.
    Grind more pepper over the top of your bowl as desired.
    Serve with some bread if you like, and enjoy! This was substantial enough that we didn't need anything else.
    Finished bowl of stew