Legit Tonkotsu Ramen from scratch (in an Instant Pot)


Date Published: Mar 3rd, 2024 | Last Updated: Mar 3rd, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: Asian, mains, soups
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 12 hours before to marinate | Cook time: 4.5 hours total

Jump to recipe |

A tonkotsu ramen is my all time favourite thing to eat, so I’m extra excited to be sharing this recipe with everyone! It’s a beautiful bowl of a rich pork bone broth with noodles, chashu, and a ramen egg. No matter what is happening in my life, a tonkotsu ramen will always make it better. When Toby and I travel, I’m always seeking out the local ramen spots – I must’ve had over a hundred bowls of ramen in my life time…so far.

I’ve always wanted to try making a tonkotsu ramen, however due to its long 12 hour cooking time, it’s complexities (ramen shops will use a refractometer to check their broth!), and having to source pork bones on the move, it has constantly been on the back burner. I’ve searched time and time again for a simplified recipe and even went as far as buying instant tonkotsu ramen to satisfy the cravings, but I’ve never succeeded in finding anything that was close to restaurant quality – until now! Recently I stumbled across a ramen subreddit where u/ramen_lord posted his version of a tonkotsu ramen but made in an Instant Pot in 3 hours (find original recipe here)! This made it much less intimidating for me and I decided to try it out. Amazingly, the recipe turned out near perfect the first time and after the second time, Toby said it was the best tonkotsu ramen he’s ever had. It was THAT good! If you’re ever reading this, thank you u/ramen_lord! (If you check out the original link, he also gives a recipe at making your own ramen noodles.)

Although it is a long recipe, each step and component is pretty easy and straightforward, so I’d encourage you to give it a try if you’re a ramen lover like me!

What Makes up a Tonkotsu Ramen?

A traditional tonkotsu ramen is made up of 6 major components, and yes, all of them are included in this very thorough monster recipe!

1. Chashu – pork belly slices

Chashu is a Japanese-style savoury pork belly that is braised the day before and marinated overnight. This is the main protein of the dish. Due to its fatty richness, it is usually served in thin slices and in small portions. This recipe will make about 2-3 slices per bowl. If you’re big on pork belly, then double the chashu portion of the recipe!

Note: Japanese chashu differs from the Chinese-style Charsiu which is barbecue pork rather than braised pork.

2. Ramen egg – a marinated boiled egg with a perfectly soft jammy centre

A ramen egg is a specific style of egg served in a bowl of ramen. It is always soft to medium-boiled to ensure a jammy velvety centre then marinated in a savoury sauce – I marinate mine in the chashu marinade overnight. Make sure you have a timer ready when you cook the eggs to ensure the perfect soft centre.

The ramen egg is always my favourite part of a bowl of ramen (my family would agree with me). For some reason, Toby is not a huge fan of eggs in general, so every time we go out for ramen he always gives me his egg! Lucky me 😊🙃❤️.

3. Tonkotsu broth – a rich and creamy pork bone broth

This is the star of the show. “Tonkotsu” literally translates to “pork bone”, which adequately names this ramen dish. The traditional method of making a tonkotsu broth is to boil the pork bones on high heat for 12 hours then add in aromatics. It is a long and arduous process which is why I’ve avoided making this recipe for so long. This recipe uses the Instant Pot pressure cooker to bring down the cook time to just 3 hours and produces restaurant-quality results!

A classic tonkotsu broth is creamy and rich due to the breakdown of the gelatin in the pork bones. Some recipes will blend pork fat and add it to the broth to make it even more creamy. For the sake of my cholesterol, there is no extra blended fat in this recipe. The broth here is just as good without it.

The colour of a tonkotsu broth should be opaque and milky white. Traditionally the pork bones are cleaned thoroughly by boiling them and removing the scum that is released and then scrubbing them clean before the broth is even started. Many purists out there will insist that you must clean the bones this way or else your broth will never be white. My first time making this recipe I cleaned the bones this way. Although it took extra time, it did produce a white broth. However after further research, I realized that you can also just roast the bones in the oven rather than scrubbing them clean and you still get the same results but with much less work. I tried it both ways and the results were quite similar. The oven roasting method produced a very slightly darker broth, however I’m sure that if I blended more of it in the blender, the results would be the same. Myth busted!

*Note: Tonkotsu is not to be confused with “tonkatsu” which is a breaded and fried pork cutlet

4. Tare – the flavour enhancer/salt of the dish

The tonkotsu broth alone lacks salt and umami flavour but when combined with the tare, it makes the perfect broth. Tare differs greatly between ramen shops and even between chefs. It can range from a simple mix of sauces to an incredibly complex recipe. It’s a chef’s signature to make a dish uniquely theirs. This recipe is a simplified version that’s essentially soy sauce marinated with mushrooms, seaweed, and dried fish.

5. Ramen noodles

Ramen noodles are different than regular noodles. They are alkaline and has a distinct taste with a slight chewy/bounce texture. To stay true to the authenticity of a tonkotsu ramen, I’d recommend taking the extra effort to find ramen noodles – you’re putting in all this effort to make it all from scratch anyway!

When looking for ramen noodles, try to buy them either freshly made or in the frozen section. Avoid the dehydrated dried noodles that are labeled as ‘ramen noodles’ – I’ve tried a few different kinds in the past and they’re just not the same.

My favourite ramen noodles are made from Sun Noodle and they come in medium or thick noodles (see picture). This one package has 2 servings – it doesn’t seem like much, but it definitely expands when cooking!

Myojo is another brand of ramen noodles I’ve heard good things about, but never tried myself.

6. Toppings

There is a wide variety of toppings you can add to your ramen. I’ve put some examples in the recipe below, but feel free to add in whatever you like. Different restaurants will have different offerings of what you can add – it all depends on personal preference. A few examples of toppings include: bean sprouts, corn, seaweed, sliced wood ear fungus, fresh garlic, chili paste, chopped green onion…etc.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Equipment you’ll need:

  • Pressure cooker (at least 8 quarts in size)
  • Cooking twine
  • Small pot with lid/saucepan

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Chashu (Pork Belly): MAKE THE DAY BEFORE
    • 500g (1.5lbs) pork belly with the skin on or off – this will be enough for 2-3 slices per portion. Feel free to double the chashu recipe if you want to serve more.
    • 1 cup water
    • 1/2 cup Japanese soy sauce (ie. Kikkoman)
    • 1/4 cup mirin
    • 2 Tbsps brown sugar
    • 2 garlic cloves, smashed
  • Ramen Egg: MAKE THE DAY BEFORE
    • 4-6 eggs (depending on how many people you’re serving)
  • Broth:
    • 1kg (2 lbs) pork neck bones (you want some meat to be attached to the bones for extra flavour)
    • 1kg (2 lbs) pork femur bones (make sure the larger leg bones are split so the bone marrow is exposed) – if you can’t find femur bones, you can use all neck bones
    • 12 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
    • 1 small brown onion, peeled and quartered
    • 4cm piece of ginger, sliced (don’t worry about peeling it)
    • 2 green onions, cut into thirds
  • Tare:
    • 1/2 cup (120ml) water
    • 1.5 Tbsps (25ml) mirin
    • 1 Tbsp (15ml) sake
    • 4g kombu (dried kelp)
    • 3g dried porcini mushrooms
    • 3g sababushi/dried mackerel, or katsuobushi/bonito flakes, or niboshi/dried anchovies – I had a difficulty sourcing these in my neighbourhood, so any of these will work to give it an umami fishy flavour
    • 1/2 cup (120ml) Japanese soy sauce (ie. Kikkoman)
    • 2.5 tsps (15g) kosher salt
    • 1.5 tsps (5g) brown sugar
  • 4-6 portions of ramen noodles, premade
  • Additional Toppings (optional):
    • Sliced green onion
    • Wood ear mushrooms
    • Seaweed
    • Bean sprouts

Directions:

THE DAY BEFORE:

A) Make the chashu:

Make sure the pork belly is at room temperature (take it out of the fridge at least 30mins prior).

Roll the pork up and tie

Roll the pork belly into a cylinder with the layers visible on the side (see photo) and tie tightly with cooking twine so it stays in shape.

Take out a saucepan with a lid and add in the rest of the the chashu ingredients: water, soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, garlic. Place the tied up pork belly in the middle of the saucepan.

Turn every 20 minutes

Turn the heat on to HIGH and let the sauce come to a boil, then turn the heat down to LOW and let it simmer with the lid on for 90 minutes. Turn the pork belly every 20 minutes so it gets evenly braised in the sauce.

When there’s 20 minutes left to your cook time, preheat your oven to 220˚C (425˚F) and prepare a baking tray with a wire rack.

After 90 minutes of braising
Before finishing it off in the oven
Roast on the top rack for 8-10 minutes
After finishing it off in the oven

Once the 90 minutes is up, turn off the heat and take out the pork belly (keeping the remaining sauce aside) and place it on the rack over a baking tray and roast in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the outside is a dark caramel colour.

When the pork belly is done, take it out of the oven and place it in a heat-proof container (make sure there’s enough room for the eggs as well). Pour the leftover sauce over and let the pork belly marinate in the sauce overnight. If the marinade doesn’t surround the pork belly, either use a smaller container or turn the pork belly halfway through for even marination. A vacuum-sealed plastic bag works well as well.

Vacuum-seal bags will help marinate it better by allowing the sauce to surround the meat and eggs

B) Make the ramen eggs: (you can do this step while you’re waiting for the pork belly to cook)

Bring a small pot of water to boil. Gently lower all 4 eggs into the boiling water and start a timer for 7 minutes. Adjust the heat if the water is boiling too rapidly to avoid the eggs from knocking around in the pot.

While you’re waiting, prepare an ice bath for the eggs. Once the timer is up, turn off the heat and immediately submerge all the eggs into the ice bath. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, remove all of the shells.

Place the peeled boiled eggs into the same container as the pork belly and marinate together overnight. If the sauce does not surround the egg, turn the eggs halfway through for even marination. A vacuum-sealed plastic bag works well as well. Do not marinate for longer than 2-3 days or else the egg will become too salty.

THE DAY OF:

C) Make the tonkotsu broth:

Preheat oven to 220˚C (425˚F)

The bones will have a dark brown char after baking in the oven

Roast the bones: Prepare a large lined baking tray. Rinse the pork bones and place them all in one layer of the tray (do not overlap the bones). Use a second tray if they don’t all fit into one. Roast in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, turning the bones once halfway through the cook time. After 40 minutes, turn off the oven. You should have a dark brown char on the bones.

Make sure you put in everything from the pan, including the brown bits
Add enough water to cover the bones by 2-3cm

Cook the broth: Place the roasted bones along with any browned bits or liquids from the tray (these will add extra flavour) into your Instant Pot. Add enough water to cover the bones by 2-3cm (roughly 3 litres). Turn the Instant Pot on to a sauté setting and set the heat to HIGH. Once the water comes to a boil, cancel the setting and put the lid on. Turn on the pressure cook setting to HIGH and cook for 2 hours. (You can start making the tare or prepare any additional toppings during this time as you wait.) When the timer finishes, quick release the pressure – be careful of any spurting of liquids from the vent! When it is safe to do so, remove the lid carefully.

After 2 hours in the Instant Pot
Add in the aromatics
Use a chopstick to scrape out the bone marrow into the broth

Add in aromatics & free the bone marrow: Add in garlic, ginger, green onion and onion into the broth. Use a chopstick and scrape out any bone marrow from the bones and let the marrow boil freely in the soup alongside the bones.

Boiling the broth for the final hour – lid on or lid off will depend on how rich it is after the Instant Pot

Taste for richness and Reduce (if needed): At this point the broth will taste quite bland since there as been no added salt and the aromatics were just introduced. Ignore the need to want to add in salt right now – it will come later. You want to taste for the texture of the broth, not the flavour. How creamy your broth is at this stage will dictate how you cook down your broth (the texture will vary greatly depending on the mix of bones you started with – it varies every time I make it):

If your broth is watery: turn on the sauté setting on the Instant Pot and set to MED heat so the soup boils moderately. Let it boil uncovered for 1 hour to reduce the broth and increase in concentration/richness. Taste at the end of 1 hour – you can let it boil for longer if needed.

If your broth is rich & creamy: add a lid on to the Instant Pot (or transfer to a regular soup pot with a lid) and let the soup boil on MED heat for 1 hour to release the flavour of the aromatics but to still contain all the liquid.

You will need to boil the broth for 1 hour regardless of how rich your broth is. The difference is whether you keep the lid on or off to control how much liquid is evaporated. If you’re unsure, then start boiling without a lid, then taste after 30 minutes, or have the lid half-on so it only reduces slightly. Once your broth is rich enough then put the lid on and finish boiling until the 1 hour timer is up.

Strain: After an hour, turn off the heat and strain the broth into a clean pot. Discard the bones, aromatics, and any floaters that you have strained out. You should now have a pale brown opaque broth. Do not worry if your broth is not a lighter colour – it will lighten up in the next step.

Magic!

Blend – the magic step that makes the broth extra creamy and white: Remove roughly a quarter of the amount of broth into a blender and blend it on HIGH until you get a very smooth, white, and creamy texture. Add this back into the rest of the broth and mix well. Taste again for the texture.

If you find that it is too creamy, add hot water a cup at a time until desired consistency.

If you want it creamer and whiter, add more broth into the blender and blend again on HIGH and add it back into the broth until desired consistency.

Resist the urge to add salt – the final taste test will be at the end with the combination of the tare (salty goodness) with with broth together. The tonkotsu broth is now complete! If you still need more time to prepare the rest of the toppings or tare, then keep the soup on low heat to keep it hot until ready to serve.

D) Make the tare: (do this while you’re waiting for the broth to cook)

In a small pan, add the water, mirin, sake, kombu, porcini, and sababushi. Turn the heat on to HIGH. When it starts to boil, turn the heat off and let it steep for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the kombu, add in the soy sauce, salt, sugar, and MSG. Whisk until dissolved. Turn the heat back on to HIGH until it starts to boil, then turn it off again and let it steep for at least 30 minutes. Strain before using. You can store this in the fridge for up to 6 months.

E) Cook the noodles, prepare the rest of the toppings: (you can do this in the final 10-15 minutes of your broth cooking)

Chashu and ramen egg: Remove the twine from the chashu and thinly slice it while still chilled (it will be easier to get neater cuts). Cut each egg in half to reveal the jammy egg yolk centre. Set aside.

Noodles: Cook the noodles according to package instructions and strain when finished.

Wood ear mushrooms: Soak the wood ear mushrooms in a bowl of boiling hot water for at least 15 minutes or until softened and expanded. Remove from the water, rinse, and slice. Set aside.

Green onion: Thinly slice one green onion for garnish. Set aside.

Seaweed: Cut your seaweed to desired sizes for serving.

F) Assemble the ramen: (finally!)

Divide the noodles equally into the serving bowls if not done so already.

Add 2 ladles of the tonkotsu broth over the noodles. Top with sliced chashu, ramen egg, wood ear mushrooms, seaweed, and green onion to garnish. Add a 3 tablespoons of tare over top (or more if you prefer it saltier). ENJOY!

Summarized Recipe:

Legit Tonkotsu Ramen from scratch (in an Instant Pot)

Date Published: Mar 3rd, 2024 | Last Updated: Mar 3rd, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: Asian, mains, soups
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 12 hours before to marinate | Cook time: 4.5 hours total

Equipment you’ll need:

  • Pressure cooker (at least 8 quarts in size)
  • Cooking twine
  • Small pot with lid/saucepan

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Chashu (Pork Belly): MAKE THE DAY BEFORE
    • 500g (1.5lbs) pork belly with the skin on or off – this will be enough for 2-3 slices per portion. Feel free to double the chashu recipe if you want to serve more.
    • 1 cup water
    • 1/2 cup Japanese soy sauce (ie. Kikkoman)
    • 1/4 cup mirin
    • 2 Tbsps brown sugar
    • 2 garlic cloves, smashed
  • Ramen Egg: MAKE THE DAY BEFORE
    • 4-6 eggs (depending on how many people you’re serving)
  • Broth:
    • 1kg (2 lbs) pork neck bones (you want some meat to be attached to the bones for extra flavour)
    • 1kg (2 lbs) pork femur bones (make sure the larger leg bones are split so the bone marrow is exposed) – if you can’t find femur bones, you can use all neck bones
    • 12 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
    • 1 small brown onion, peeled and quartered
    • 4cm piece of ginger, sliced (don’t worry about peeling it)
    • 2 green onions, cut into thirds
  • Tare:
    • 1/2 cup (120ml) water
    • 1.5 Tbsps (25ml) mirin
    • 1 Tbsp (15ml) sake
    • 4g kombu (dried kelp)
    • 3g dried porcini mushrooms
    • 3g sababushi/dried mackerel, or katsuobushi/bonito flakes, or niboshi/dried anchovies – I had a difficulty sourcing these in my neighbourhood, so any of these will work to give it an umami fishy flavour
    • 1/2 cup (120ml) Japanese soy sauce (ie. Kikkoman)
    • 2.5 tsps (15g) kosher salt
    • 1.5 tsps (5g) brown sugar
  • 4-6 portions of ramen noodles, premade
  • Additional Toppings (optional):
    • Sliced green onion
    • Wood ear mushrooms
    • Seaweed
    • Bean sprouts

Directions:

THE DAY BEFORE:

  • A) Make the chashu:
    1. Make sure the pork belly is at room temperature (take it out of the fridge at least 30mins prior).
    2. Roll the pork belly into a cylinder with the layers visible on the side (see photo) and tie tightly with cooking twine so it stays in shape.
    3. Take out a saucepan with a lid and add in the rest of the the chashu ingredients: water, soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, garlic. Place the tied up pork belly in the middle of the saucepan.
    4. Turn the heat on to HIGH and let the sauce come to a boil, then turn the heat down to LOW and let it simmer with the lid on for 90 minutes. Turn the pork belly every 20 minutes so it gets evenly braised in the sauce.
    5. When there’s 20 minutes left to your cook time, preheat your oven to 220˚C (425˚F) and prepare a baking tray with a wire rack.
    6. Once the 90 minutes is up, turn off the heat and take out the pork belly (keeping the remaining sauce aside) and place it on the rack over a baking tray and roast in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the outside is a dark caramel colour. When the pork belly is done, take it out of the oven and place it in a heat-proof container (make sure there’s enough room for the eggs as well). Pour the leftover sauce over and let the pork belly marinate in the sauce overnight. If the marinade doesn’t surround the pork belly, either use a smaller container or turn the pork belly halfway through for even marination. A vacuum-sealed plastic bag works well as well.
  • B) Make the ramen eggs: (you can do this step while you’re waiting for the pork belly to cook)
    1. Bring a small pot of water to boil. Gently lower all 4 eggs into the boiling water and start a timer for 7 minutes. Adjust the heat if the water is boiling too rapidly to avoid the eggs from knocking around in the pot.
    2. While you’re waiting, prepare an ice bath for the eggs. Once the timer is up, turn off the heat and immediately submerge all the eggs into the ice bath. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, remove all of the shells.
    3. Place the peeled boiled eggs into the same container as the pork belly and marinate together overnight. If the sauce does not surround the egg, turn the eggs halfway through for even marination. A vacuum-sealed plastic bag works well as well. Do not marinate for longer than 2-3 days or else the egg will become too salty.

THE DAY OF:

  • C) Make the tonkotsu broth:
    1. Preheat oven to 220˚C (425˚F)
    2. Roast the bones: Prepare a large lined baking tray. Rinse the pork bones and place them all in one layer of the tray (do not overlap the bones). Use a second tray if they don’t all fit into one. Roast in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, turning the bones once halfway through the cook time. After 40 minutes, turn off the oven. You should have a dark brown char on the bones.
    3. Cook the broth: Place the roasted bones along with any browned bits or liquids from the tray (these will add extra flavour) into your Instant Pot. Add enough water to cover the bones by 2-3cm (roughly 3 litres). Turn the Instant Pot on to a sauté setting and set the heat to HIGH. Once the water comes to a boil, cancel the setting and put the lid on. Turn on the pressure cook setting to HIGH and cook for 2 hours. (You can start making the tare or prepare any additional toppings during this time as you wait.) When the timer finishes, quick release the pressure – be careful of any spurting of liquids from the vent! When it is safe to do so, remove the lid carefully.
    4. Add in aromatics & free the bone marrow: Add in garlic, ginger, green onion and onion into the broth. Use a chopstick and scrape out any bone marrow from the bones and let the marrow boil freely in the soup alongside the bones.
    5. Taste for richness and Reduce (if needed): At this point the broth will taste quite bland since there as been no added salt and the aromatics were just introduced. Ignore the need to want to add in salt right now – it will come later. You want to taste for the texture of the broth, not the flavour. How creamy your broth is at this stage will dictate how you cook down your broth (the texture will vary greatly depending on the mix of bones you started with – it varies every time I make it):
      • If your broth is watery: turn on the sauté setting on the Instant Pot and set to MED heat so the soup boils moderately. Let it boil uncovered for 1 hour to reduce the broth and increase in concentration/richness. Taste at the end of 1 hour – you can let it boil for longer if needed.
      • If your broth is rich & creamy: add a lid on to the Instant Pot (or transfer to a regular soup pot with a lid) and let the soup boil on MED heat for 1 hour to release the flavour of the aromatics but to still contain all the liquid.
      • You will need to boil the broth for 1 hour regardless of how rich your broth is. The difference is whether you keep the lid on or off to control how much liquid is evaporated. If you’re unsure, then start boiling without a lid, then taste after 30 minutes, or have the lid half-on so it only reduces slightly. Once your broth is rich enough then put the lid on and finish boiling until the 1 hour timer is up.
    6. Strain: After an hour, turn off the heat and strain the broth into a clean pot. Discard the bones, aromatics, and any floaters that you have strained out. You should now have a pale brown opaque broth. Do not worry if your broth is not a lighter colour – it will lighten up in the next step.
    7. Blend – the magic step that makes the broth extra creamy and white: Remove roughly a quarter of the amount of broth into a blender and blend it on HIGH until you get a very smooth, white, and creamy texture. Add this back into the rest of the broth and mix well. Taste again for the texture.
      • If you find that it is too creamy, add hot water a cup at a time until desired consistency.
      • If you want it creamer and whiter, add more broth into the blender and blend again on HIGH and add it back into the broth until desired consistency.
      • Resist the urge to add salt – the final taste test will be at the end with the combination of the tare (salty goodness) with with broth together. The tonkotsu broth is now complete! If you still need more time to prepare the rest of the toppings or tare, then keep the soup on low heat to keep it hot until ready to serve.
  • D) Make the tare: (do this while you’re waiting for the broth to cook)
    1. In a small pan, add the water, mirin, sake, kombu, porcini, and sababushi. Turn the heat on to HIGH. When it starts to boil, turn the heat off and let it steep for 30 minutes.
    2. After 30 minutes, remove the kombu, add in the soy sauce, salt, sugar, and MSG. Whisk until dissolved. Turn the heat back on to HIGH until it starts to boil, then turn it off again and let it steep for at least 30 minutes. Strain before using. You can store this in the fridge for up to 6 months.
  • E) Cook the noodles, prepare the rest of the toppings: (you can do this in the final 10-15 minutes of your broth cooking)
    1. Chashu and ramen egg: Remove the twine from the chashu and thinly slice it while still chilled (it will be easier to get neater cuts). Cut each egg in half to reveal the jammy egg yolk centre. Set aside.
    2. Wood ear mushrooms: Soak the wood ear mushrooms in a bowl of boiling hot water for at least 15 minutes or until softened and expanded. Remove from the water, rinse, and slice. Set aside.
    3. Noodles: Cook the noodles according to package instructions, strain, and even divide into serving bowls.
    4. Green onion: Thinly slice one green onion for garnish. Set aside.
    5. Seaweed: Cut your seaweed to desired sizes for serving.
  • F) Assemble the ramen: (finally!)
    1. Divide the noodles equally into the serving bowls if not done so already.
    2. Add 2 ladles of the tonkotsu broth over the noodles.
    3. Top with sliced chashu, ramen egg, wood ear mushrooms, seaweed, and green onion to garnish. Add a 3 tablespoons of tare over top (or more if you prefer it saltier). ENJOY!

Abby4 Comments

Sausage Mushroom Zucchini Tian (kinda like a risotto but easier)


Date Published: Feb 28th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 28th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: easy, healthy, low-cal, mains, vegetarian
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 40 mins

Jump to recipe |

‘Tian de Courgettes au Riz’ is a recipe from the great Julia Child. I came across this recipe randomly through my search for healthier meals in this new year and found many adaptations of it. From those adaptations, I played around with the recipe, added in mushrooms and sausage (because why not) to make it a more rounded and hearty meal, and out came yet another adaptation of her recipe 😛. According to the internet, a “tian” is a French word used to describe a shallow baking dish but also the name of a baked vegetable dish (Martha Stewart compares the wordplay to a casserole and a casserole dish).

In its essence, this dish is pretty much rice cooked in zucchini liquid mixed with mushroom, meat, and cheese. It’s kind of like a risotto, except much easier to achieve. This recipe seems long, but I promise it’s just wordy and not difficult at all. Once you get into it, you’ll realize that it’s quite easy and not at all intimidating unlike other Julia Child recipes.

This recipe is a fantastic way to use up an overflow of zucchinis in the summer season. For 6 portions, it uses up about 6 large zucchinis. I wish I discovered this recipe sooner when Toby and I were staying on the farm. His dad grew sooooo many zucchinis that we were gifting them to everyone we see (he was seriously harvesting at least 6-8 a day at peak season!).

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

*You will need an oven-proof pot or dutch oven with a lid – I used a 5 1/4 quart dutch oven.

  • 1.5kg zucchinis (roughly 6 large ones)
  • 500g portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • Roughly 1/2 a cup of milk (amount will vary depending on how much liquid is released from your zucchini and mushrooms)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 medium brown onions, diced
  • 3 Tbsps all purpose flour
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated + extra for sprinkling
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 3/4 cup medium grain rice (I use arborio/risotto rice, but any medium grain will do)
  • 300-400g kielbasa (Polish sausage), diced
    • You can use any protein you like (ie. sausage, ground beef, shredded rotisserie chicken…etc.), but make sure your protein is cooked, dry, and doesn’t add any extra liquid or else it’ll throw off the liquid ratio to cook the rice.

Directions:

Cut the fibrous ends off the zucchinis and grate each one using a large hole grater (this is a whole lot quicker if you have a food processor with a grating function). Place a colander over a bowl and put the grated zucchini into the colander with 3 tsps of salt. Use your hands and massage the salt through the zucchini, making sure its mixed well. Set aside for 1 hour, allowing the liquid from the zucchini to release and collect in the bowl below.

After 1 hour, squeeze out as much zucchini liquid as you can and save this liquid. Rinse the grated zucchini under cold water to remove any excess salt and squeeze until dry and set aside (do not save this liquid).

While you’re waiting for the zucchini to release its liquid, cook the mushrooms: in a large pan on MED-HIGH heat, add a drizzle of oil and sauté the mushrooms until cooked (4-5 minutes). Place the cooked mushrooms in a strainer and reserve any liquid.

Reserved zucchini liquid
Adding in mushroom liquid
Adding milk to make it 3.75 cups

Measure out the amount of collected zucchini liquid from step 2 and add in the released liquid from the mushrooms in step 3 until it makes 3.75 cups. If the combined liquid is not enough to make up 3.75 cups, then add enough milk to make up the rest of the amount. Pour the liquid into a saucepan and heat it up on the stove until warmed. Do NOT let it come to a boil, otherwise it may split. Only heat it up until warmed. Keep on LOW heat until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F.

In an oven-safe pot or dutch oven (make sure there’s a lid, I used a 5 1/4 quart size dutch oven) on MED-HIGH heat, add a drizzle of oil and sauté the garlic and onion together for 3-4 minutes until the onion turns translucent. Then add in the grated zucchini and continue to sauté for another 5-6 minutes.

Add in the cooked mushrooms and 3 Tbsps of flour to the pan and continue mixing for 2 more minutes until everything is well combined then turn off the heat.

Add Parmesan, rice, and kielbasa
Mix it all up

Mix in the Parmesan cheese, rice, and kielbasa (or your choice of cooked protein).

Bake covered for 20 minutes
After baking covered for 20 mins

Pour in the warmed zucchini/mushroom/milk liquid over top. Mix it all together then cover with the lid and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Add Parmesan and bake uncovered for another 20-25 mins
Once the liquid cooks out and it’s golden brown on top, it’s done!

After 20 minutes, remove the lid and add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese over top and continue baking without the lid for another 20-25 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the top is slightly golden brown. Once it’s done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes for any remaining liquid to absorb before serving. When dishing it out, add another sprinkle of Parmesan cheese before serving. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Sausage Mushroom Zucchini Tian (kinda like a risotto but easier)

Date Published: Feb 28th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 28th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: easy, healthy, low-cal, mains, vegetarian
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

*You will need an oven-proof pot or dutch oven with a lid – I used a 5 1/4 quart dutch oven.

  • 1.5kg zucchinis (roughly 6 large ones)
  • 500g portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • Roughly 1/2 a cup of milk (amount will vary depending on how much liquid is released from your zucchini and mushrooms)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 medium brown onions, diced
  • 3 Tbsps all purpose flour
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated + extra for sprinkling
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 3/4 cup medium grain rice (I use arborio/risotto rice, but any medium grain will do)
  • 300-400g kielbasa (Polish sausage), diced
    • You can use any protein you like (ie. sausage, ground beef, shredded rotisserie chicken…etc.), but make sure your protein is cooked, dry, and doesn’t add any extra liquid or else it’ll throw off the liquid ratio to cook the rice.

Directions:

  1. Prepare the zucchini: Cut the fibrous ends off the zucchinis and grate each one using a large hole grater (this is a whole lot quicker if you have a food processor with a grating function). Place a colander over a bowl and put the grated zucchini into the colander with 3 tsps of salt. Use your hands and massage the salt through the zucchini, making sure its mixed well. Set aside for 1 hour, allowing the liquid from the zucchini to release and collect in the bowl below. After 1 hour, squeeze out as much zucchini liquid as you can and save this liquid. Rinse the grated zucchini under cold water to remove any excess salt and squeeze until dry and set aside (do not save this liquid).
  2. Cook the mushrooms: While you’re waiting for the zucchini to release its liquid, cook the mushrooms: in a large pan on MED-HIGH heat, add a drizzle of oil and sauté the mushrooms until cooked (4-5 minutes). Place the cooked mushrooms in a strainer and reserve any liquid.
  3. Prepare the liquid: Measure out the amount of collected zucchini liquid from step 2 and add in the released liquid from the mushrooms in step 3 until it makes 3.75 cups. If the combined liquid is not enough to make up 3.75 cups, then add enough milk to make up the rest of the amount. Pour the liquid into a saucepan and heat it up on the stove until warmed. Do NOT let it come to a boil, otherwise it may split. Only heat it up until warmed. Keep on LOW heat until ready to use.
  4. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F.
  5. In an oven-safe pot or dutch oven (make sure there’s a lid) on MED-HIGH heat, add a drizzle of oil and sauté the garlic and onion together for 3-4 minutes until the onion turns translucent. Then add in the grated zucchini and continue to sauté for another 5-6 minutes.
  6. Add in the cooked mushrooms and 3 Tbsps of flour to the pan and continue mixing for 2 more minutes until everything is well combined then turn off the heat.
  7. Mix in the Parmesan cheese, rice, and kielbasa (or your choice of cooked protein).
  8. Pour in the warmed zucchini/mushroom/milk liquid over top. Mix it all together then cover with the lid and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
  9. After 20 minutes, remove the lid and add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese over top and continue baking without the lid for another 20-25 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the top is slightly golden brown. Once it’s done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes for any remaining liquid to absorb before serving. When dishing it out, add another sprinkle of Parmesan cheese before serving. Enjoy!

AbbyLeave a comment

Damn Good Short Rib Ragu (in an Instant Pot)


Date Published: Feb 27th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 27th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins

Jump to recipe |

After making my first ever short ribs dish through this insanely good recipe, I’ve become hooked! Short ribs was never a cut of meat I’ve worked with before and it often requires extremely long cooking times to break down the connective tissue, but praise the Instant Pot! It cuts down cooking times from 3 hours to just 1 hour and it produced extremely soft fall-off-the-bone results. If you’re unfamiliar with short ribs, you can check out my other short rib recipe for a bit of background information, including the differences between the cuts of short ribs.

English cut
Cross cut/Korean cut
https://polyphagicabby.com/2024/02/26/luxurious-beef-short-ribs-with-red-wine-sauce-in-an-instant-pot/

This recipe is originally from Giada. I’ve altered it for Instant Pot cooking methods to cut down on cooking times and still produce identical results.

Unlike the classic braised short rib with red wine sauce, this meat is shredded then served in a slightly more subtle tomato-base sauce with a touch of Dijon mustard and a cup of red wine (rather than half the bottle). The rich meaty sauce is tossed through your choice of any style of pasta and served with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. The deliciously flavourful sauce with the soft shredded meats is balanced out by the pasta, making this the perfect pasta dish to make to impress. You’ll be amazed by how much flavour you can get from so few ingredients!

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 1.8kg (4 lbs) beef short ribs, English cut (Cross cut/Korean cut is fine too but it will take longer to sear and it’ll be annoying to remove all the little round bones at the end)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 5 Roma tomatoes, cut into eighths
  • 1 cup red wine – any will do, even the cheap stuff! I use cabernet sauvignon
  • 3 Tbsps Dijon mustard
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 4-6 portions of pasta – any kind you like
  • Parmesan cheese for sprinkling when serving

Directions:

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs.

Watch out for the oil splatter!

Turn your instant pot on to the SAUTÉ setting on HIGH heat. Add a drizzle of oil and sear the short ribs in batches, making sure you brown every side. Set aside the seared ribs.

Tip: Watch out for the oil splattering! A splatter guard will work wonders here and extra long tongs or extra long chopsticks will be even better to avoid getting hot oil on your hands when you turn the ribs to sear each side.

Turn the heat down to MED and add in the onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant, making sure you scrape up any browned bits from the beef on the bottom and sides of the pot (the precious brown bits give us extra flavour and the moisture from the onions will help soften it from the bottom of the pot).

Add in the tomatoes, red wine, Dijon mustard, and beef stock. Mix everything together and simmer for 3 minutes for the alcohol to cook out.

Ready to pressure cook
After pressure cooking for 1 hour

Add back in the seared ribs (from step 2) and submerge them in the liquid. Cancel the instant pot sauté setting and put on the lid. Set the instant pot to PRESSURE COOK and HIGH for 1:00 hour with 10 minutes of natural release.

Remove all the meat from the liquid
Discard the bones and shred all the meat

When the timer has finished, turn off the instant pot and open it. You should have a very tender fall-off-the-bone short rib! Very carefully, remove all of the meat and bones into a separate bowl. Discard all the bones and use two forks to shred the meat. Cover the meat to keep warm and set aside.

Liquid left over after the meat and bones have been removed
Blending the sauce will make a lighter colour and smoother sauce
Simmer the sauce down to reduce it
It’s done when you get a thickened syrupy consistency
Add the shredded meat back into the sauce to warm – done!

Make the sauce: Once all the meat and bones have been removed, you should only have vegetables left in the liquid. Skim off any excess oil that may be floating on top. Use a stick blender to blend the liquid until smooth (you can also pour it into a blender if you don’t have a stick blender) then pour it into a saucepan or wide based pan. Turn the heat to MED and simmer for 15-20 mins to reduce the sauce until you get a thickened syrupy consistency. This will take a while because there will be a decent amount of liquid to cook down since the instant pot does not evaporate any liquid as it cooks. Once the sauce has thickened, add the shredded meat (from step 6) into the sauce and stir through until warmed. Turn off the heat.

Make the pasta: While the sauce is reducing, make the pasta according to instructions. Strain when finished and set aside.

To serve: Divide the pasta into serving bowls and spoon the sauce with meat over top. Add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese overtop before serving. Done!

Summarized Recipe:

Damn Good Short Rib Ragu (in an Instant Pot)

Date Published: Feb 27th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 27th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1.8kg (4 lbs) beef short ribs, English cut (Cross cut/Korean cut is fine too but it will take longer to sear and it’ll be annoying to remove all the little round bones at the end)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 5 Roma tomatoes, cut into eighths
  • 1 cup red wine – any will do, even the cheap stuff! I use cabernet sauvignon
  • 3 Tbsps Dijon mustard
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 4-6 portions of pasta – any kind you like
  • Parmesan cheese for sprinkling when serving

Directions:

  1. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs.
  2. Turn your instant pot on to the SAUTÉ setting on HIGH heat. Add a drizzle of oil and sear the short ribs in batches, making sure you brown every side. Set aside the seared ribs.
    • Tip: Watch out for the oil splattering! A splatter guard will work wonders here and extra long tongs or extra long chopsticks will be even better to avoid getting hot oil on your hands when you turn the ribs to sear each side.
  3. Turn the heat down to MED and add in the onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant, making sure you scrape up any browned bits from the beef on the bottom and sides of the pot (the precious brown bits give us extra flavour and the moisture from the onions will help soften it from the bottom of the pot).
  4. Add in the tomatoes, red wine, Dijon mustard, and beef stock. Mix everything together and simmer for 3 minutes for the alcohol to cook out.
  5. Add back in the seared ribs (from step 2) and submerge them in the liquid. Cancel the instant pot sauté setting and put on the lid. Set the instant pot to PRESSURE COOK and HIGH for 1:00 hour with 10 minutes of natural release.
  6. When the timer has finished, turn off the instant pot and open it. You should have a very tender fall-off-the-bone short rib! Very carefully, remove all of the meat and bones into a separate bowl. Discard all the bones and use two forks to shred the meat. Cover the meat to keep warm and set aside.
  7. Make the sauce: Once all the meat and bones have been removed, you should only have vegetables left in the liquid. Skim off any excess oil that may be floating on top. Use a stick blender to blend the liquid until smooth (you can also pour it into a blender if you don’t have a stick blender) then pour it into a saucepan or wide based pan. Turn the heat to MED and simmer for 15-20 mins to reduce the sauce until you get a thickened syrupy consistency. This will take a while because there will be a decent amount of liquid to cook down since the instant pot does not evaporate any liquid as it cooks. Once the sauce has thickened, add the shredded meat (from step 6) into the sauce and stir through until warmed. Turn off the heat.
  8. Make the pasta: While the sauce is reducing, make the pasta according to instructions. Strain when finished and set aside.
  9. To serve: Divide the pasta into serving bowls and spoon the sauce with meat over top. Add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese overtop before serving. Done!

AbbyLeave a comment

Luxurious Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Sauce (in an Instant Pot)


Date Published: Feb 26th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 26th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4-5 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 2 hours

Jump to recipe |

Bookmark this, it’s time to impress everyone. These beef short ribs are fall-off-the-bone, melt-in-your mouth soft and it’s paired with a luxurious rich syrupy red wine sauce that is to die for. Try it yourself, you won’t regret it!

I came across this recipe through a Reddit cooking thread that asked people what their go-to dish was when they want to impress dinner guests and this one from RecipeTinEats was one of the top responses. I couldn’t wait to make it but due to our busy work schedule and sourcing the ingredients (mainly the short rib), it wasn’t until a week later that I finally got to try out the recipe. This dish was definitely worth it wait – it came out DELICIOUS! I actually had a lot of leftovers due to the giant Costco size package of short ribs I got so I shared it with our coworkers and they all unanimously agreed that it was damn good. This is a dish worth showing off – seriously.

What are beef short ribs?

Image source: https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/the-serratus-ventralis-muscle/

I had never cooked with beef short rib before and didn’t even really know what it was. Is it different than a regular beef rib? Why is it ‘short’? Did they just trim down a regular rib? Why is it more expensive? What’s so special about it?

Being a veterinarian, I had to look up anatomical images of a cow just to figure out where the short ribs even came from to have it all make sense in my head. According to Wikipedia, the serratus ventralis muscle defines the area from where the short ribs come from. This muscle is thickest between the 2nd to 5th rib and is the preferred area to cut because the muscle here is much thicker. Outside of this area the serratus ventralis becomes too thin to create a true ‘short rib’. So a beef short rib is from specific area of the ribs that is meatier – which probably explains why its more expensive (if there are any butchers reading this, please correct me if I’m wrong!). I highlighted an anatomical diagram and included it in this post in case anyone else was as interested as me – ignore the fact that it’s an equine model 🤫.

English Cut vs. Cross-cut/Korean Cut?

English cut
Cross cut/Korean cut

There are two main ways a short rib is cut:

  1. English cut – where the meat is cut along the bone and you end up with long pieces of rib bone and chunks of meat.
  2. Cross cut or Korean-style cut where the ribs are cut across the bone and you end up with small circular bones and thin cuts of meat. This is popular in Korean short rib dishes – in fact, I couldn’t even find any non-Korean style dishes that used short ribs in this style of cut.

(Here is a helpful video from a butcher to help you visualize it better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA4FwE7QbrE)

Just looking at this photo enrages me 😡

In this recipe, we want the English cut so we can get big chunks of meat when serving. Living in South Brooklyn, we have a severe deficiency of a good butcher around our area and we had to go to THREE bodega grocery stores just to find English cut short ribs. Side story: the first time I made this recipe I found a huge pack of short ribs at Costco for a decent price and was so excited to make it. Nowhere on the package did it list what style it was cut and the way that it was packaged made it impossible to tell, so I just assumed it was the English cut since there is also a severe deficiency in Asian-style grocers in the area – what are the chances that this “Kansas City Steak Company” meat would be a Korean cut? 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ I woke up at 7am that morning to start prepping and cooking so everything would be cooked and ready by lunch time (the original recipe has a 3 hour cook time with a dutch oven – more on that below). I opened the big hefty bag of meat that I had been staring at for the past 3 days and I was so disheartened to find that it was the wrong cut of short ribs 😭. I triple checked the packaging in the garbage to see if I was the one that made the mistake, but indeed there was no label at all to identify the cut of meat, other than “sliced”. I had a mini temper tantrum not knowing whether I should abort mission after literally dreaming about short ribs for so many days or to continue on and hope for the best. All this at 7am while Toby happily slept in – he doesn’t know how close I was to waking him up to rage. Not wanting to waste $40 of meat and also definitely not wanting to venture out this early in the morning in the middle of winter to find more short ribs, I continued on. The flavours turned out just fine, but the steps involved were a lot lengthier and it was definitely super annoying to pick out every single cross-cut bone. I have included a photo of the offending meat package so no one else makes the same mistake that I did at Costco. /rant

What if I can’t find English cut and only Cross cut/Korean-style cut?

If you cannot find English cut short ribs and you can only find the Korean-style cut, you can still proceed with this recipe as written and the flavours will still be the same, but there will be some adjustments:

  • If your rib slices are long, you may have to use scissors to cut them in half before you sear them so it fits in the pot better.
  • It will take much longer to sear all the meat because you’ll be dealing with more pieces rather than bigger chunks of meat, so plan accordingly.
  • When you have an English cut, you have the option of serving the dish with or without the bone based on preference of presentation. If you use a Korean cut, you must remove all of the bone prior to serving or else there will be small round bones throughout your dish which is unpleasant. Removing every piece of bone is time-consuming and a bit annoying, so be prepared for this.
  • After you remove all the bone, the beef will look a bit ugly and stringy from the extra connective tissue around each bone so I’d recommend you break it all up and shred the meat before serving. Although the flavour of the dish will be the same, you won’t get big chunks of meat but rather shredded meat – it’s still delicious nonetheless, but the texture is a little different.

Instant Pot (pressure cooker) vs Dutch Oven – not much difference other than time!

The original recipe (and most short rib recipes on the internet) calls for a dutch oven that slowly cooks the short ribs in the oven for 3 HOURS. I did this. I even bought a dutch oven just for this recipe – well, I was eventually going to get one anyway, but this recipe pulled the trigger for me to get it now 😛. When I first made this recipe, I had a large amount of short rib from Costco (albeit in the wrong cut – see rant above) so I decided to double the recipe. However, when it came time to cook it all, I realized that not all of it fit into my 5 1/4qt dutch oven and there was no way I was going to make it in two batches and commit another 3 hours to making this (totalling 6 hours of cooking time), so I decided to put half of it in my Instant Pot and cook it at the same time.

The original recipe from RecipeTinEats raves about the dutch oven method as her preferred way of making this due to the flavour from the extra caramelization of the sauce and beef. Since I was doing half dutch oven and half Instant Pot, I figured that even if the Instant Pot version wasn’t as good at least I wouldn’t be cooking until late into the evening and I’d still have the oven ribs to enjoy. The Instant Pot version only took 1 hour cook time and was the first to finish. Because it was pressure cooked with the lid on, all the liquid had remained and I ended up having to reduce the sauce down a LOT to get the right consistency – it took about 15-20 minutes, whereas it should usually take 5-10mins. The resulting sauce and meat was REALLY GOOD (and even with the wrong cut of meat!). I couldn’t believe how rich the flavours were and how tender the meat was! It was incredible. The timer went off again and this time the dutch oven method was ready – I was excited. There was a lot less liquid so the sauce came together much faster but the texture and colour of the meat was the same (see the comparison photos below).

Instant Pot after 1 hour of cooking
Dutch oven after 3 hours of cooking

I did a blind taste test with Toby of the Instant Pot meat and sauce vs the dutch oven meat and sauce. He couldn’t tell the difference (and neither could I) – he actually thought maybe the Instant Pot version was a little better by a hair, which made me really happy because although I love my beautiful new dutch oven, I would much prefer waiting 1 hour for something to cook rather than 3 hours for the same results. Although you have a longer sauce reduction time with the Instant Pot, the overall time commitment is still less. Instant Pot wins!

*Note: when I did this cooking trial, I did it with the wrong cut of meat – Korean style cut rather than the English cut. In this trial, the flavours of the meat turned out exactly the same and the sauces were also similar as well which is why my Instant Pot is my go-to for this dish. I haven’t tried the dutch oven method with the English cut so I can’t speak for any differences in meat that it may have. To me, the sauce is the focus and the small differences in textures of the meat is secondary, so if you’ve done it both ways with the English cut, I’d love to know if you find a big difference!

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 1.5 – 2kg beef short ribs, English cut (~ roughly 4-5 large pieces, try to get ones with more meat on them)
  • Kosher salt & pepper
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 medium carrots, diced
  • 4 sticks of celery, diced
  • 2 Tbsps tomato paste
  • 2 cups (500ml) beef stock
  • 2 cups (500ml) red wine – any will do, even the cheap stuff! I use cabernet sauvignon.
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp of dried thyme)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Your choice of side to serve with the short ribs: ie. mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans, salad…etc.

Directions:

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs.

Turn your instant pot on to the SAUTÉ setting on HIGH heat. Add a drizzle of oil and sear the short ribs in batches, making sure you brown every side. Set aside the seared ribs.

Tip: Watch out for the oil splattering! A splatter guard will work wonders here and extra long tongs or extra long chopsticks will be even better to avoid getting hot oil on your hands when you turn the ribs to sear each side.

Make sure you scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom!

Turn the heat down to MED and add in the onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant, making sure you scrape up any browned bits from the beef on the bottom and sides of the pot (the precious brown bits give us extra flavour and the moisture from the onions will help soften it from the bottom of the pot).

Add in the carrots and celery. Continue to cook until the carrots have softened (7-9 minutes).

Add tomato paste
Add beef stock
Add red wine
Add thyme & bay leaves

Add in the tomato paste and stir through, then the beef stock, red wine, thyme, and bay leaves. Mix everything together and simmer for 3 minutes for the alcohol to cook out.

Add back in the ribs
Make sure all the ribs are submerged

Add back in the seared ribs (from step 2) and submerge them in the liquid. Cancel the instant pot sauté setting and put on the lid. Set the instant pot to PRESSURE COOK and HIGH for 1:00 hour with 10 minutes of natural release.

While the instant pot is cooking, you can prepare any sides to go with the short ribs. I’d recommend a carb like mashed potatoes to pair with the rich short ribs sauce and an easy veg like green beans or a salad.

Carefully remove all the ribs
Set aside the cooked ribs and cover it to keep it warm and moist

When the timer has finished, turn off the instant pot and open it. You should have a very tender fall-off-the-bone short rib! Very carefully, remove all of the ribs into a separate bowl, trying to keep the meat and bones intact for serving. Cover the ribs to keep warm and set aside.

You want a slightly thickened syrupy consistency

Make the sauce: Place a strainer over a bowl and strain out the vegetables from the liquid. Use a spoon or ladle to squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the vegetables. Discard the vegetables. Pour the strained liquid into a saucepan or wide based pan and simmer on MED heat for 15-20 mins until you get a thickened syrupy-consistency. This will take a while because there will be a decent amount of liquid to cook down since the instant pot does not evaporate any liquid as it cooks. Drizzle the sauce over the short rib to serve.

To serve: Place 1-2 pieces of short rib (depending on how large your pieces are) on a plate with or without the bone and add a drizzle of the sauce overtop. Serve with your desired side dishes. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Luxurious Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Sauce (in an Instant Pot)

Date Published: Feb 26th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 26th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4-5 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 – 2kg beef short ribs, English cut (~ roughly 4-5 large pieces, try to get ones with more meat on them)
  • Kosher salt & pepper
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 medium carrots, diced
  • 4 sticks of celery, diced
  • 2 Tbsps tomato paste
  • 2 cups (500ml) beef stock
  • 2 cups (500ml) red wine – any will do, even the cheap stuff! I use cabernet sauvignon
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp of dried thyme)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Your choice of side to serve with the short ribs: ie. mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans, salad…etc.

Directions:

  1. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs.
  2. Turn your instant pot on to the SAUTÉ setting on HIGH heat. Add a drizzle of oil and sear the short ribs in batches, making sure you brown every side. Set aside the seared ribs.
    • Tip: Watch out for the oil splattering! A splatter guard will work wonders here and extra long tongs or extra long chopsticks will be even better to avoid getting hot oil on your hands when you turn the ribs to sear each side.
  3. Turn the heat down to MED and add in the onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant, making sure you scrape up any browned bits from the beef on the bottom and sides of the pot (the precious brown bits give us extra flavour and the moisture from the onions will help soften it from the bottom of the pot).
  4. Add in the carrots and celery. Continue to cook until the carrots have softened (7-9 minutes).
  5. Add in the tomato paste and stir through, then the beef stock, red wine, thyme, and bay leaves. Mix everything together and simmer for 3 minutes for the alcohol to cook out.
  6. Add back in the seared ribs (from step 2) and submerge them in the liquid. Cancel the instant pot sauté setting and put on the lid. Set the instant pot to PRESSURE COOK and HIGH for 1:00 hour with 10 minutes of natural release.
  7. While the instant pot is cooking, you can prepare any sides to go with the short ribs. I’d recommend a carb like mashed potatoes to pair with the rich short ribs sauce and an easy veg like green beans.
  8. When the timer has finished, turn off the instant pot and open it. You should have a very tender fall-off-the-bone short rib! Very carefully, remove all of the ribs into a separate bowl, trying to keep the meat and bones intact for serving. Cover the ribs to keep warm and set aside.
  9. Make the sauce: Place a strainer over a bowl and strain out the vegetables from the liquid. Use a spoon or ladle to squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the vegetables. Discard the vegetables. Pour the strained liquid into a saucepan or wide based pan and simmer on MED heat for 15-20 mins until you get a thickened syrupy-consistency. This will take a while because there will be a decent amount of liquid to cook down since the instant pot does not evaporate any liquid as it cooks. Drizzle the sauce over the short rib to serve.
  10. To serve: Place 1-2 pieces of short rib (depending on how large your pieces are) on a plate with or without the bone and add a drizzle of the sauce overtop. Serve with your desired side dishes. Enjoy!

Abby1 Comment

Segedínský Guláš – Czech Pork Sauerkraut Goulash


Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: Czech, easy, mains, soups
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 1.5 hours

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This is one of Toby’s favourite Czech dishes (next to svičkova), so of course I made it a personal challenge to try and make the best segedinsky goulash I could. After 3 tries, I think I did it. Not to toot my own horn, but this is pretty fucking good and Toby would agree. It’s a hearty goulash with pork as its main protein and it’s slowly simmered in bacon, paprika, and sauerkraut, then topped off with a little sour cream. I’m not usually a fan of sauerkraut (unless it’s a sweet braised version), but when it’s cooked into a savoury stew like this, it adds a nice texture and just a hint of tartness that balances it out nicely.

Toby has no idea why it’s called “segedinsky” since it doesn’t translate to anything in Czech. After a little googling, I learned that this dish has a few possible origins but the most popular two explanations are: 1) a Hungarian dish from the city of Szeged in Hungary that is known for their paprika, or 2) from a Hungarian writer Jozsef Székély who came to a restaurant that ran out of food at closing and requested the leftover goulash and sauerkraut to be mixed together to make a meal. Whatever the true origin, there’s no doubt it has Hungarian roots and has been widely popular in surrounding countries including Czech and Germany!

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 200g (roughly 6 slices) smoked thick-cut bacon, sliced small
  • 900g (2 lbs) pork shoulder, cut into 2.5cm pieces
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
  • 3 medium (~1.2kg) onions, diced
  • 1 Tbsp sweet ground paprika
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups (720ml) beef broth
  • 300g sauerkraut, without the liquid
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sour cream
  • Salt to taste

Directions:

In a large pot on MED heat, add a light drizzle of oil and the bacon. Cook for 5-8 minutes to let the bacon fat render and release its oils. It’ll be done when the bacon is lightly browned and starting to get crispy. Make sure to regularly scrape the bottom of the pot so the brown bits don’t stick. Once done, remove just the bacon from the pot and set aside (leave the oil in the pot – you’re going to use this to cook the rest of the dish).

In the same pot, turn the heat up to MED-HIGH and add in the pork shoulder pieces and sear each side for 1-2 minutes until it’s browned on the outside (you do not want to cook the pork through at this stage, just sear the outside). Remove the pork from the pot and set aside (leave the oil in the pot).

Still in the same pot, turn the heat down to MED and add in the caraway seeds and onions. Sauté for 5-8 minutes until the onions soften and start to brown.

Add back in the bacon (from step 1), seared pork (from step 2), paprika and garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant, then add in the flour. Continue to sauté together for another 30 seconds to 1 minute until all the flour is mixed well. Pour the beef broth into the pot and stir everything around, making sure to scrape up anything that stick to the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat up to HIGH to bring it to a boil, then simmer on LOW covered with a lid for 30 minutes.

While you’re waiting, put your sauerkraut into a strainer and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Roughly chop the sauerkraut into smaller pieces and set aside.

Once the broth has finished boiling, add the chopped sauerkraut into the pot, stir it around, then let it continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or until the pork is cooked, with the lid on. Try not to overcook your goulash or else the sauerkraut starts to lose its texture.

Once the soup has finished, turn the heat off, add in the sour cream and taste to adjust salt to preference. Serve hot with bread or potato dumplings!

*Note: If you’re going to double the recipe for a batch-cook, you’ll have to simmer the soup longer. This is because when you double the ingredients, you’ll end up with more moisture overall so your soup will be more dilute and simmering it longer will reduce the amount of liquid and concentrating the flavours. I’d recommend simmering it longer before you add in the sauerkraut so you don’t overcook the sauerkraut.

Summarized Recipe:

Segedínský Guláš – Czech Pork Sauerkraut Goulash

Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: Czech, easy, mains, soups
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients:

  • 200g (roughly 6 slices) smoked thick-cut bacon, sliced small
  • 900g (2 lbs) pork shoulder, cut into 2.5cm pieces
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
  • 3 medium (~1.2kg) onions, diced
  • 300g sauerkraut, without the liquid
  • 1 Tbsp sweet ground paprika
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups (720ml) beef broth
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sour cream
  • Salt to taste

Directions:

  1. In a large pot on MED heat, add a light drizzle of oil and the bacon. Cook for 5-8 minutes to let the bacon fat render and release its oils. It’ll be done when the bacon is lightly browned and starting to get crispy. Make sure to regularly scrape the bottom of the pot so the brown bits don’t stick. Once done, remove just the bacon from the pot and set aside (leave the oil in the pot – you’re going to use this to cook the rest of the dish).
  2. In the same pot, turn the heat up to MED-HIGH and add in the pork shoulder pieces and sear each side for 1-2 minutes until it’s browned on the outside (you do not want to cook the pork through at this stage, just sear the outside). Remove the pork from the pot and set aside (leave the oil in the pot).
  3. Still in the same pot, turn the heat down to MED and add in the caraway seeds and onions. Sauté for 5-8 minutes until the onions soften and start to brown.
  4. Add back in the bacon (from step 1), seared pork (from step 2), paprika and garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant, then add in the flour. Continue to sauté together for another 30 seconds to 1 minute until all the flour is mixed well.
  5. Pour the beef broth into the pot and stir everything around, making sure to scrape up anything that stick to the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat up to HIGH to bring it to a boil, then simmer on LOW covered with a lid for 30 minutes.
  6. While you’re waiting, put your sauerkraut into a strainer and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Roughly chop the sauerkraut into smaller pieces and set aside.
  7. Once the broth has finished boiling, add the chopped sauerkraut into the pot, stir it around, then let it continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or until the pork is cooked, with the lid on. Try not to overcook your goulash or else the sauerkraut starts to lose its texture.
  8. Once the soup has finished, turn the heat off, add in the sour cream and taste to adjust salt to preference. Serve hot with bread or potato dumplings!

*Note: If you’re going to double the recipe for a batch-cook, you’ll have to simmer the soup longer. This is because when you double the ingredients, you’ll end up with more moisture overall so your soup will be more dilute and simmering it longer will reduce the amount of liquid and concentrating the flavours. I’d recommend simmering it longer before you add in the sauerkraut so you don’t overcook the sauerkraut.

Abby1 Comment

Vepřo knedlo zelo (pork, dumpling, sauerkraut) – a Czech national dish


Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: czech, mains
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 3 hours (mainly to wait until the potatoes cool) | Cook time: 3 hours

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Vepřo knedlo zelo is Czech’s national dish (or at least one of them – I couldn’t find an official source to state what the official national Czech dish is, but most sources have pointed to this one (another source claims it to be svičkova)). Regardless of whether or not it’s the true national dish, it’s definitely very popular and found in most Czech restaurants.

The name of the dish directly translates to the 3 components that make up the dish: vepřo = pork, knedlo = dumpling, zelo = sauerkraut. Disclaimer: this page is not a recipe page of all 3 components, but rather a guide to making all 3 components in order with links to each of their dedicated recipes. I’ve chosen to split it up this way to make it easier for the reader to navigate rather than writing it all in one monstrously long recipe post with a million photos. Each component is also delicious on their own that you can pair it with other dishes instead of just in a vepřo knedlo zelo.

1. Vepřo = pork

The pork portion is usually a pork shoulder, which can be roasted or smoked. The first time I had this dish was at babička’s place and she served it with a smoked pork shoulder. She was cooking away with it for hours that the whole apartment smelled like smoked ham – I’m pretty sure my jacket still has a hint of it 4 weeks later 😅. When I set out to recreate this dish, we visited the lovely little Polish butcher a block away from us and found that they sell beautiful already-cooked smoked pork shoulder! We couldn’t resist and bought a few hundred grams (it was delicious). We still go back there when we’re feeling too lazy to cook and heat it up with sauerkraut and dumplings.

Instead of a smoked pork, a roast pork is the other version of this dish. When I first made it from scratch, I didn’t expect much since the steps were so simple and straightforward. I also don’t usually cook with pork much so my experience with making pork roasts is very limited, but I’ve gotta say, it came out really fucking good – even Toby approves! Although the smoked pork is good and easy, the roasted version is a lot juicier in my opinion. The recipe for the roasted pork shoulder is below.

2. Knedlo = dumpling

Knedlíky are Czech dumplings. There are a few different kinds of Czech dumplings, but in this particular dish, it’s commonly served with either the bread version (houskové knedlíky) or the potato version (bramborové knedlíky) (you can find out more about the difference here). I personally prefer it with a heavier dense potato dumpling, but it can be served with the lighter fluffier bread dumpling version too. In this guide, I will reference the potato dumpling version (which happens to be easier too!). Here are links to both types of dumplings:

3. Zelo = sauerkraut

You can serve this dish with whatever style of sauerkraut you like, but I prefer it with a sweet smokey version like this one here. Since this is my favourite sauerkraut, I will also be writing this guide in accordance to that recipe. Fun fact: I actually liked this version of sauerkraut so much that I needed to find a meat dish to go with it which is how I got onto making a vepřo knedlo zelo in the first place. I never would’ve made this dish if I hadn’t succeeded in making the sauerkraut 🙃.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the guide! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Directions:

1. Make the pork roast first. This is the most time-consuming and will take 2.5-3 hours to cook. Although lengthy, all this time is literally waiting. There’s nothing else that needs to be done with the pork once you pop it in the oven which makes it the perfect time to prepare everything else. When it’s done, measure it with a meat thermometer to ensure that it’s cooked and slice it. Easy. If you’re not ready to serve it yet while you finish the other components, leave it drenched in the drippings/oils from the pan to keep it moist and soaking up flavour.

2. While the pork is roasting in the oven, start making the potato dumplings. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to put the dough together and once the loaves are formed, it takes about half an hour to cook each batch. If you have extra stove space and extra pots, you can get two pots going at the same time so you can cook them all at once to save time rather than waiting for back to back 30 minutes. Make sure you set timers so you don’t forget about them.

3. When the dumplings are boiling, start making the sauerkraut. It takes about 30-40 minutes in total including two 15 minute braising times during the process, so while you’re waiting you can intermittently check on the dumplings.

4. Once everything is done, plate it up and serve. Enjoy!

Recipes used:

Abby3 Comments

Vepřová Pečeně – Czech-style Pork Roast


Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: czech, mains, easy
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 3 hours

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Pork is one of the more common proteins seen in Czech cuisine – in fact, it’s part of their national dish: Vepřo knedlo zelo (= pork + dumplings + sauerkraut). This recipe is for a Czech-style roast pork (vepřová pečeně = “pork roast”) and is the star component of the Czech national dish. You can follow the links below if you’d like to make a full vepřo knedlo zelo.

I originally started researching making a Czech roast pork when I discovered a new found love for sweet sauerkraut that Toby’s babička made. When I perfected the recipe for the braised sweet sauerkraut, I needed a protein to go with it so I looked into making the roast pork that commonly accompanies it. I found a simple recipe at first, and after some tweaking, a beautiful caramelized glistening juicy hunk of meat was born. This pork is so good that it is worth making on its own. It’s flavourful enough to have it by itself or you can pair it with sauerkraut, a rajská sauce, mashed potatoes…anything you want! The best part is that this dish is SO easy to make with minimal ingredients. The ONLY downfall is that it takes about 3 hours, HOWEVER, it’s 3 hours of waiting and you literally do not have to do anything other than wait for the timer to go off and double check that it has cooked through with a meat thermometer. To make it even easier, you can marinate the meat in the rub the night before and the next morning, just pop it in the oven a few hours before lunch time and when it’s ready, just slice and serve. 😊

If you want to make the full vepřo knedlo zelo dish, the recipe for the potato dumplings (bramborové knedlíky) can be found here and the sauerkraut can be any sauerkraut, but I prefer to have it with a sweet sauerkraut like this one. You can also find a guide on how to put it all together here.

Vepřo knedlo zelo = roast pork + potato dumplings + sauerkraut

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tsps caraway seeds, crushed
  • 2.5 Tbsps kosher salt
  • 2 x 900g (2 x 2 lbs) pieces of pork shoulder, get ones with marbling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 160˚C (325˚F) on “roast” setting if you’ve got the option, or otherwise ‘bake’ will be fine.

In a small bowl, make the seasoning rub by mixing together: olive oil, garlic, crushed caraway seeds, and salt. Tip: to easily crush caraway seeds without the mess, you can put it in between a sheet of baking paper and use a rolling pin to crush it by rolling over it a few times. Crushing the caraway seeds releases its flavour.

Use the rub and massage it evenly around the entire pork shoulder. Tip: To save time, you can do this the night before and let the pork marinate in the rub in the fridge overnight in a sealed container. When ready to cook, take it out of the fridge half an hour beforehand to let it come to room temp.

Place the pork in the middle of a lined baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 2.5 – 3 hours (or until the middle of the pork measures 62˚C and the juices are no longer pink).

Now is a good time to make any sides that you want to serve with the roast pork. The most common is with a sauerkraut and Czech potato dumpling/knedliky like in a vepřo knedlo zelo.

When the pork has finished, take it out of the oven and let it rest on the counter for 5-10 mins before slicing. After slicing, drench each slice in the drippings/ oils from the baking tray before serving. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Vepřová Pečeně – Czech-style Pork Roast

Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: czech, mains, easy
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tsps caraway seeds, crushed
  • 2.5 Tbsps kosher salt
  • 2 x 900g (2 x 2 lbs) pieces of pork shoulder, get ones with marbling

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 160˚C (325˚F) on “roast” setting if you’ve got the option, or otherwise ‘bake’ will be fine.
  2. In a small bowl, make the seasoning rub by mixing together: olive oil, garlic, caraway seeds, and salt.
  3. Use the rub and massage it evenly around the entire pork shoulder.
    • Tip: To save time, you can do this the night before and let the pork marinate in the rub in the fridge overnight in a sealed container. When ready to cook, take it out of the fridge half an hour beforehand to let it come to room temp.
  4. Place the pork in the middle of a lined baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 2.5 – 3 hours (or until the middle of the pork measures 62˚C and the juices are no longer pink).
  5. When the pork has finished, take it out of the oven and let it rest on the counter for 5-10 mins before slicing. After slicing, drench each slice in the drippings/ oils from the baking tray before serving. Enjoy!

Abby1 Comment

Healthy “Creamy” Mushroom Broccoli Soup


Date Published: Jan 15th, 2024 | Last Updated: Jan 15th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: < 30mins, easy, quick, main, vegetarian, soups, appetizers, healthy, low-cal
Serves: 4-6 (as a main) | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 20 mins

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Keeping on the new years resolution, here’s another recipe to add to the healthy vault! This creamy soup hits the spot for something hearty on a chilly day yet won’t break the calorie bank. Coming in at only 252 calories per serving, there’s no actual cream in this soup at all – the creaminess of the soup comes from the puréed potatoes and oat milk. This soup is so easy and quick to make and is packed full of broccoli and mushrooms. You can whip it up in under 30 minutes and have lunch for the rest of the week.

Without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 2 + 1 cloves garlic, minced
  • 300g white or portobello mushrooms, sliced
  • Pinch of dried thyme leaves
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes, washed and diced into 2cm cubes
  • 2 large heads of broccoli, washed and cut into florets
  • 4 cups (1L) chicken stock
  • 2 cups of oat milk or soy milk
  • Salt to taste
  • Ground black pepper to taste
  • Croutons (optional)

Directions:

In a medium sized soup pot on MED heat, add a drizzle of olive oil. Add in 1 clove of minced garlic, sliced mushrooms, dried thyme, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté for 3-5 minutes until cooked. Turn off the heat and remove the mushrooms and any liquid. Set aside.

In the same pot on MED heat, add another drizzle of olive oil and sauté the remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic and diced onion. When the onion has softened and turned translucent, add in the potatoes, broccoli, and chicken stock. Stir, then turn the heat up to HIGH to bring the soup to a boil, then turn it down to MED heat. Put on a lid and let it boil for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove 2 ladles of the ingredients in the pot (without any liquid) into a separate bowl and use a spatula to quickly break up the ingredients into small bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Add oat milk into the pot and bring the heat back up to HIGH to reach a boil, then turn the heat off.

Use a stick blender (or regular blender) to purée everything in the pot. If you want a creamier soup, turn the heat back on and simmer the soup until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add back in the removed ingredients from step 3 and also the cooked mushrooms along with any of its liquid. Taste and readjust salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot with croutons. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Healthy “Creamy” Mushroom Broccoli Soup

Date Published: Jan 15th, 2024 | Last Updated: Jan 15th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: < 30mins, easy, quick, main, vegetarian, soups, appetizers, healthy, low-cal
Serves: 4-6 (as a main) | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

  • 2 + 1 cloves garlic, minced
  • 300g white or portobello mushrooms, sliced
  • Pinch of dried thyme leaves
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes, washed and diced into 2cm cubes
  • 2 large heads of broccoli, washed and cut into florets
  • 4 cups (1L) chicken stock
  • 2 cups of oat milk or soy milk
  • Salt to taste
  • Ground black pepper to taste
  • Croutons (optional)

Directions:

  1. In a medium sized soup pot on MED heat, add a drizzle of olive oil. Add in 1 clove of minced garlic, sliced mushrooms, dried thyme, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté for 3-5 minutes until cooked. Turn off the heat and remove the mushrooms and any liquid. Set aside.
  2. In the same pot on MED heat, add another drizzle of olive oil and sauté the remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic and diced onion. When the onion has softened and turned translucent, add in the potatoes, broccoli, and chicken stock. Stir, then turn the heat up to HIGH to bring the soup to a boil, then turn it down to MED heat. Put on a lid and let it boil for 15 minutes.
  3. After 15 minutes, remove 2 ladles of the ingredients in the pot (without any liquid) into a separate bowl and use a spatula to quickly break up the ingredients into small bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
  4. Add oat milk into the pot and bring the heat back up to HIGH to reach a boil, then turn the heat off.
  5. Use a stick blender (or regular blender) to purée everything in the pot. If you want a creamier soup, turn the heat back on and simmer the soup until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Add back in the removed ingredients from step 3 and also the cooked mushrooms along with any of its liquid. Taste, and readjust any salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot with croutons. Enjoy!

Abby2 Comments

Steak & Blue Cheese Salad


Date Published: Jan 1st, 2024 | Last Updated: Jan 1st, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: salads, mains, healthy, easy, <30mins, low-cal, on the go
Serves: 2 large salads as a main | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 6 mins

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HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can’t believe it’s 2024 already. 2023 flew right by! It seems like just yesterday we moved to Brooklyn from Australia and I still feel like we haven’t completely settled in. There’s so much good food around us that I haven’t had as much inspiration to cook in the kitchen this past year, despite FINALLY living in our own space and having all of my kitchen things all in one place. Welp, all this eating out has been catching up to our bellies, so we’re starting 2024 eating healthy and getting our weights down (original, I know).

This steak and blue cheese salad is a copy cat from the one at Panera’s which has since been discontinued. It was my all time favourite salad and I was heartbroken the day they took it off the menu. This salad has been on the back of my mind for a LONG time, but I never quite got it right to make it just like Panera’s. Their cabernet reduction sauce still remains a mystery to this day. After many years, I’ve given up on making it exactly the same, but I managed to make a quick and easy version that satisfies the craving. This recipe is so easy and cooks up quickly, great for a busy evening.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 400g Sirloin steak(s), room temp
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 large romaine/cos lettuce heart, washed and chopped
  • Half a red onion, sliced thin
  • 1.5 cups of cherry or grape tomatoes, washed and halved
  • 1.5 cups of fried onions/shallots
  • 1.5 cups blue cheese/gorgonzola crumbles
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • Balsamic vinaigrette glaze (also works with balsamic vinaigrette if you don’t have the glaze on hand)

Directions:

Salt and pepper the steak(s) on both sides. Set up your grill or grill pan to HIGH heat and add a drizzle of oil. Cook the steaks on HIGH heat until you get a nice sear on both sides and cooked to medium rare (roughly 2.5 – 3 minutes on each side, cook times will vary depending on the thickness of your cut). Once the steaks are done, remove from the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

While the steak is resting, assemble your salad: evenly divide the lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions/shallots, and blue cheese crumbles between two salad bowls. Add a sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper to each bowl then place the sliced steak over the salads. Drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette glaze over both salads. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Steak & Blue Cheese Salad

Date Published: Jan 1st, 2024 | Last Updated: Jan 1st, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: salads, mains, healthy, easy, <30mins, low-cal, on the go
Serves: 2 large salads as a main | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 6 mins

Ingredients:

  • 400g Sirloin steak(s), room temp
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 large romaine/cos lettuce heart, washed and chopped
  • Half a red onion, sliced thin
  • 1.5 cups of cherry or grape tomatoes, washed and halved
  • 1.5 cups of fried onions/shallots
  • 1.5 cups blue cheese crumbles
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • Balsamic vinaigrette glaze (also works with balsamic vinaigrette if you don’t have the glaze on hand)

Directions:

  1. Salt and pepper the steak(s) on both sides. Set up your grill or grill pan to HIGH heat and add a drizzle of oil. Cook the steaks on HIGH heat until you get a nice sear on both sides and cooked to medium rare (roughly 2.5 – 3 minutes on each side, cook times will vary depending on the thickness of your cut). Once the steaks are done, remove from the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
  2. While the steak is resting, assemble your salad: evenly divide the lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions/shallots, and blue cheese crumbles between two salad bowls. Add a sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper to each bowl then place the sliced steak over the salads. Drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette glaze over both salads. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

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So Easy Tan Tan Ramen


Date Published: Oct 24th, 2023 | Last Updated: Mar 2nd, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: easy, quick, Asian, mains, soups, healthy
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 20 mins

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Ramen is my all time favourite food. No matter where we travel, I always scout out notable ramen shops (we’ve been to a LOT of them). Nothing beats a classic Tonkotsu Ramen, but a Tan Tan Ramen is a close second. For the longest time, I’ve assumed all ramen recipes would be long and arduous like the Tonkotsu ramen, until I came across a random Tan Tan Ramen recipe and realized how simple it was – no boiling down bones for hours required! In fact, the recipe is so simple that you can put it all together within 30 minutes and with minimal prep work! Toby tells me that this is the best Tan Tan Ramen he’s ever had – and I’m inclined to agree! This recipe comes out so flavourful with minimal effort, perfect for a quick lunch or dinner. The serving size is for 2 people because I find that it’s best eaten fresh and not as leftovers in a bulk cook as I often do for work. Multiply the recipe ingredients if you’re cooking for more people.

This recipe was adapted from Woks of Life.

A Healthier Alternative?

We all know a classic tonkotsu ramen isn’t the most calorie-friendly dish out there. The classic broth is made through boiling down bones with fatty pork belly to achieve that beautiful creamy flavour and texture. It’s delicious in every way, but sadly too rich to have daily. HOWEVER, a Tan Tan Ramen has the same creamy broth but without any cream, milk, or fat. The creamy broth is actually made with….drum roll…oat milk! 🤯🤯🤯 Any unsweetened oat milk will do, BUT I’ve discovered that homemade oat milk will create an even creamier texture. Toby and I recently bought a Vitamix Blender, a kitchen appliance I’ve wanted ever since I was a little girl waiting for the ice cream and hot soup samples during a demo at the CNE. After 18 years, I finally took the plunge and got one last month. Ever since then, I’ve been making my own oat milk. If you’ve ever made oat milk at home, you’ll know that if you over strain it, it can get kind of slimy – this is due to the beta glucan, a soluble fibre found in oats. Therefore when you make oat milk, you don’t want to squeeze the strainer bag too much or else the sliminess comes out. However, in a Tan Tan Ramen recipe, I encourage you to squeeze the bag! The slimier the better! This sliminess results in a thicker soup and creamier texture in the recipe. Beta glucan is actually good for you and has cholesterol-lowering properties, so go ahead, squeeze the bag (don’t worry, your soup won’t be slimy)! You don’t have to feel guilty about eating ramen anymore and the soup is actually good for you!

If you’re already making a big batch of oat milk, use the last 1.5 cups when straining the milk for this recipe. Otherwise, blend 1/2 cup of oats in 2 cups of cold water on HIGH speed for 30 seconds and strain and squeeze through a nut milk/fine mesh sieve/bag. You only need 1.5 cups for this recipe.

What are Ramen Noodles?

Ramen noodles are different than regular noodles. They are alkaline and has a distinct taste with a slight chewy/bounce texture. To stay true to the authenticity of a tonkotsu ramen, I’d recommend taking the extra effort to find ramen noodles – you’re putting in all this effort to make it all from scratch anyway!

When looking for ramen noodles, try to buy them either freshly made or in the frozen section. Avoid the dehydrated dried noodles that are labeled as ‘ramen noodles’ – I’ve tried a few different kinds in the past and they’re just not the same.

My favourite ramen noodles are made from Sun Noodle and they come in medium or thick noodles (see picture). This one package has 2 servings – it doesn’t seem like much, but it definitely expands when cooking!

Myojo is another brand of ramen noodles I’ve heard g

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 300g ground pork
  • 1 Tbsp mirin
  • 1 Tbsp ginger, finely minced
  • Soup Flavour Base:
    • 2 Tbsps soy sauce
    • 2 Tbsps unsweetened peanut butter
    • 1 tsp rice vinegar
    • 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
    • 1 Tbsp chili oil (any kind is fine, I prefer the Szechuan mala chili oils)
  • 1.5 cups unsweetened oat milk or soy milk
    • Pro-tip: for a creamier soup, use homemade oat milk (blend 1/2 cup oats to 2 cups water on high speed for 30 seconds then strain it through a nut milk bag)
  • 1.5 cups chicken stock
  • 1 Tbsp spicy bean sauce (la dou ban jiang 辣豆瓣酱)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 bunches of bok choy (or other leafy greens), washed and trimmed
  • 2 servings of ramen noodles (any brand will do, my favourite are from Sun noodle – see photo)
  • 2 green onions/scallions, chopped

Directions:

Mix the ground pork, mirin, and ginger together. Set aside to marinate for 15 mins.

Prepare the soup flavour base by combining soy sauce, peanut butter, rice vinegar, sugar, and chili oil. Evenly divide this mixture into 2 soup bowls for serving. Set aside.

In a saucepan on HIGH heat, add in the oat milk and chicken stock. Heat it up until it just comes to a simmer then turn the heat to LOW to keep warm until ready to be used. Do not let it get any higher than a small simmer otherwise it may curdle!

In a wok on HIGH heat, drizzle a small amount of oil and sauté the marinated pork from step 1 until browned. Then add in the spicy bean sauce and garlic. Continue to sauté for another minute then turn off the heat.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the bok choy for 60 seconds then remove from the pot and set aside.

Bring the same pot of water to a boil again and cook the ramen noodles according to package instructions. Strain the noodles.

To assemble: Add one ladle of the oat milk/chicken stock mixture into each of the soup bowls over the soup flavour base and mix well until combined. Then evenly divide the rest of the oat milk/chicken stock mixture into each bowl.

Then top with the cooked ramen noodles, ground pork, and bok choy. Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped scallions over top. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

So Easy Tan Tan Ramen

Date Published: Oct 24th, 2023 | Last Updated: Mar 2nd, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: easy, quick, Asian, mains, soups, healthy
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

  • 300g ground pork
  • 1 Tbsp mirin
  • 1 Tbsp ginger, finely minced
  • Soup Flavour Base:
    • 2 Tbsps soy sauce
    • 2 Tbsps unsweetened peanut butter
    • 1 tsp rice vinegar
    • 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
    • 1 Tbsp chili oil (any kind is fine, I prefer the Szechuan mala chili oils)
  • 1.5 cups unsweetened oat milk or soy milk
    • Pro-tip: for a creamier soup, use homemade oat milk (blend 1/2 cup oats to 2 cups water on high speed for 30 seconds then strain it through a nut milk bag)
  • 1.5 cups chicken stock
  • 1 Tbsp spicy bean sauce (la dou ban jiang 辣豆瓣酱)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 bunches of bok choy (or other leafy greens), washed and trimmed
  • 2 servings of ramen noodles (any brand will do, my favourite are from Sun noodle – see photo)
  • 2 green onions/scallions, chopped

Directions:

  1. Mix the ground pork, mirin, and ginger together. Set aside to marinate for 15 mins.
  2. Prepare the soup flavour base by combining soy sauce, peanut butter, rice vinegar, sugar, and chili oil. Evenly divide this mixture into 2 soup bowls for serving. Set aside.
  3. In a saucepan on HIGH heat, add in the oat milk and chicken stock. Heat it up until it just comes to a simmer then turn the heat to LOW to keep warm until ready to be used. Do not let it get any higher than a small simmer otherwise it may curdle!
  4. In a wok on HIGH heat, drizzle a small amount of oil and sauté the marinated pork from step 1 until browned. Then add in the spicy bean sauce and garlic. Continue to sauté for another minute then turn off the heat.
  5. Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the bok choy for 60 seconds then remove from the pot and set aside. Bring the same pot of water to a boil again and cook the ramen noodles according to package instructions. Strain the noodles.
  6. To assemble: Add one ladle of the oat milk/chicken stock mixture into each of the soup bowls over the soup flavour base and mix well until combined. Then evenly divide the rest of the oat milk/chicken stock mixture into each bowl. Then top with the cooked ramen noodles, ground pork, and bok choy. Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped scallions over top. Enjoy!

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