Instant Pot · All year
Instant Pot Soy-Braised Beef Shank
A boneless shank, blanched, then braised with soy, ginger, and star anise until it slices clean. No sesame oil. The meat rests in the sauce before you cut it.
About 2 hours, mostly hands-off · Serves 6 · One shank, sliced, plus sauce
“When you eat and are full, you will bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.”
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lb boneless beef shank, in one piece if it fits
- 1 cup water
- ⅓ cup light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey, or rock sugar
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, optional
- 6 slices of fresh ginger
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 3 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
Method
- 1
Put the shank in the pot and cover it with cold water. Set the pot to sauté and bring it to a boil. Boil 5 minutes. The gray foam that rises is what you are getting rid of. Drain the shank, rinse it, and wash the pot so no foam is left on the bottom.
- 2
Pour the 1 cup of water into the clean pot and scrape the bottom. Stir in the light soy, dark soy, honey, and Shaoxing wine if you are using it. Add the ginger, garlic, scallions, star anise, and cinnamon. Set the shank in. The liquid will not cover a large piece, and it does not need to.
- 3
High pressure for 50 minutes. Natural release for 15 minutes, then release the rest. A chopstick should slide into the center with steady pressure. If the center still fights you, cook 10 minutes more and release.
- 4
Leave the shank in the hot sauce, lid off, for 20 minutes. Slicing it the moment the pressure drops makes the slices shred. Lift it out, slice it across the grain, and spoon a little of the sauce over the meat.
- 5
Strain the sauce if you want it clear. Skim the fat. It should taste salty and a little sweet, not like a glaze. If it is too strong, thin it with a spoon of hot water.
From the kitchen
- Dark soy is for color. If you do not keep it, add 1 teaspoon of molasses with the light soy. The meat will be a little lighter. Do not add sesame oil at the end.
- Cross-cut shanks with the bone in can use this same sauce. Give pieces about 1 ½ inches thick 45 minutes. They will be softer than the boneless shank and are better eaten with a spoon than sliced thin.
- The sauce keeps. Chill it, lift the fat, and use it again for a second, smaller shank, or spoon it over rice.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
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