Pressure Cooker Teriyaki Chicken and Brown Rice

I got an Instant Pot on sale on Black Friday, and after a few easy things over the weekend I was ready to try a more ambitious meal. I was pretty nervous because I couldn't find a recipe for exactly what I wanted to do, so I had to combine different things, but it turned out perfectly. We'll definitely be making it again! I used the pot-in-pot method to cook the rice separately from my chicken. After playing around with different stuff I had on hand, I ended up using the liner from my old rice cooker to be the rice pot, but any oven-safe container will do; I also had a Pyrex bowl that was pretty close to the right size.

The instructions I use here are specifically for brown rice and frozen chicken breasts. If you're using thawed chicken and white rice, your rice will need less water (most ratios I've read suggest 1:1 for pot-in-pot white rice) and a shorter cook time (probably more like 12-15 minutes).

3 large frozen chicken breasts (or 4-6 small ones), not thawed

4 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

4 tablespoons water + 1 tablespoon apple juice concentrate OR 4 tablespoons apple juice

3 tablespoons honey

A dash of pepper

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups brown rice

2 1/2 cups water

Mix together soy sauce, vinegar, apple juice/water, honey, pepper, sesame oil, and garlic. Place sauce and frozen chicken breasts in bottom of pressure cooker. Rinse rice and place in smaller oven-safe bowl or pot (test to make sure that your inner pot will fit inside your pressure cooker, on top of the chicken, without overfilling the cooker), with the water. Cover with foil and if your inner pot doesn't have a handle, use tin foil to make a "sling" to go under the pot for easy removal.

I used the liner from my 6 cup rice cooker for my inner pot.
Here it is covered in foil with a folded-tinfoil sling.

Place your rice pot on top of the chicken—either directly on top, or using the Instant Pot trivet upside-down like this:

My rice cooker pot inside the Instant Pot—
it hits right at the Max Fill line.

Put on pressure cooker lid and cook for 23 minutes. (It took mine about 10-15 minutes to come up to pressure at the beginning.) I am not familiar enough yet with my Instant Pot to know the ins and outs of pressure releases, so I'm not sure if there's a specific method that works best with this recipe, but I ended up letting my pressure cooker sit for between 5 and 10 minutes and then letting the rest of the pressure off with the quick release valve because we needed to eat right then. ;) It worked great and I did NOT make the pot explode! It was cooked enough that I suspect it would be fine to do quick release from the start, but also fine to leave it on warm and let the pressure release naturally if you want to keep it warm for awhile.

Everything about this meal was perfect—the chicken was cooked perfectly, the rice was excellent, and the teriyaki sauce is the best I've ever made and one of the best I've ever tasted. I've been trying all year to imitate the sauce from my favorite teriyaki joint, and while this wasn't quite to that level, it was pretty darn close!

Serves 4-6.

Cream Cheese Won-Tons

Rating: 4 stars

Prep Time: Easy

The other night while making eggrolls, we had several pasta sheets left over after the eggroll filling was all gone. Rather than stick them back in the fridge, I decided on the spur of the moment to imitate an appetizer we had had at (where else) Panda Express once—cream cheese won-tons. They were very easy, and the cream cheese went surprisingly well with the fried wrapper. We dipped them in soy sauce and the zing of the sauce was a great complement to the mildness of the cream cheese.

Eggroll wrappers cut in fourths (or won-ton wrappers)

Cream cheese

Canola/veggie oil for frying

Scoop a small dollop of cream cheese into the center of each won-ton square. Wet fingertip with water and dab on opposite corners of square. Bring opposite corners together and push to seal. Do the same thing with remaining corners. (Essentially, you're trying to draw all four corners into the center and seal the sides. You'll end up with a neat-looking little package.) Alternatively, if you're using won-ton wrappers, you can wrap them according to the directions on the package.

Fry in oil over medium heat, or when oil pops when water is dropped in, but isn't smoking much. Drain on paper towels. Serve with your choice of dipping sauce.

Chinese Eggrolls

Rating: 5 lick-your-finger and steal-your-neighbor's plate stars

Prep time: Medium

This recipe is pretty versatile. If you're making it for a large family or group, add more ingredients; if you're making it for just two people, use the given proportions or add less. For Mahon and I, we usually end up with somewhere between 7-10 eggrolls, which is plenty for the two of us (they are big!). Also—as far as I know, Chinese eggrolls are usually made with cabbage, but I don't usually have cabbage on hand so lately I've just been putting spinach in these instead. It's delicious.

1 package egg roll wrappers (the big ones)

1-2 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded

2 large handfuls of spinach or about half a head of cabbage (chopped)

1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and grated

1-2 cups mung bean sprouts (probably about a package)—really it just depends on how much you like bean sprouts!

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

Soy sauce

Paprika, if your husband is addicted to it like mine is

Canola or vegetable oil for frying

In large skillet or wok, heat a little olive oil. Add in onions, spinach/cabbage, carrots, and chicken. Season with garlic and paprika (if using). Stir-fry all ingredients on medium-high heat for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are beginning to be soft and spinach (if using) is wilted. Splash in a few teaspoons of soy sauce. Once the onions and carrots are crisp-tender, add in the bean sprouts and sautee for another minute or so (not long or your bean sprouts will become limp and uninteresting!). 

Remove from heat. Fill a smaller skillet with about 1-1 1/2" of canola oil and heat over medium-ish heat, until it pops if you drop water into it, but isn't smoking a ton. While oil is heating, fill eggroll wrappers according to package directions. We've found that we like long, thin eggrolls more than short, fat ones.

Fry eggrolls until evenly golden-brown on both sides. Serve warm, with sweet and sour or soy sauce to dip in. Try not to eat too many!!!

Easy Asian Noodles

I love Asian noodle dishes, but I've never had good success at replicating authentic Asian-style noodles (which I LOVE!!!). The kind that you can buy packaged up in the grocery store really don't taste anything like the real thing... plus, they are pretty expensive!

I started using packages of ramen noodles in my stir-fry in my early college days as a cheap Asian noodle substitute. I would just boil the noodles without the seasonings, drain, and throw them into the stir fry to be seasoned by whatever sauce I had in the wok. The only problem is that, in my opinion, you can always taste that distinctive "ramen noodle flavor" in your finished dish. I've seen some recipes that use regular spaghetti noodles, which is also fine, but gives your food that Italian semolina flavor.

A few weeks ago, I was making string bean chicken (seriously, one of our new favorites!!!) and didn't have any rice to serve it with, so I pulled out a package of ramen noodles instead. Struck by a bit of inspiration, after I had drained the ramen noodles I put them back into their pot and added in a generous shake of soy sauce. I let them marinate about five minutes, until I was done with the string bean chicken, and then I threw them in the wok and coated them with the string bean teriyaki sauce.

It was amazing! They still don't taste like authentic Chinese noodles, but they also don't taste like ramen. (I would say they're about on the level of what you would get at a Panda Express-type place.) This is definitely the cheapest, yummiest noodle solution I have come up with to date. Now whenever I make a stir-fry with noodles, I let them marinate for about five minutes in soy sauce before adding them into the wok and coating them with my stir fry sauce. It makes a delicious stir-fry, WITHOUT feeling like you're just eating jazzed-up ramen! (Even though, you know, you are.)

Enjoy!

String Bean Chicken

Rating: 5 stars

Prep time: Easy

One of our favorite restaurants is Panda Express. I know, I know... it's neither the healthiest nor the most cultured place to eat, but we love it! Last week we ate there. One of the dishes we had was their String Bean Chicken. As I ate it, I thought—I could make this! So a few days ago, I did. It is not an exact copy of the recipe... it's a little more strongly-flavored. I actually like it better. This recipe makes about 3 generous portions.

2-3 chicken breasts, thawed and marinated with Soy-Citrus Marinade

1 medium onion

1-2 cups green beans (fresh or frozen... NOT canned)

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

2 t cornstarch

Sesame seeds (about 1 teaspoon)

Grill chicken on hot pan or outdoor grill. (If you choose the former, hopefully you can do it WITHOUT setting off the fire alarm, which is what has happened both times I've used my grilling pan in my new apartment!) When chicken is cooked through, cut into small cubes and set aside. In wok or large skillet, sautee onions in olive oil until tender and lightly browned. Remove from wok and set aside. Put green beans in wok and coat with olive oil. Sautee until beans are beginning to brown. While beans are cooking, toast sesame seeds—you can do this either by sprinkling them onto a cookie sheet and placing it in the oven on broil for 1-2 minutes, or you can sprinkle them on a plate and microwave for 1-2 minutes. When toasted, they'll be a very light brown. Once beans are done cooking, remove from pan (or, if you have a wok, push the beans up on the sides to leave the center clear). In a bowl, combine cornstarch and teriyaki and pour into wok center (this will smoke). Quickly whisk the sauce for a moment; it will start to thicken immediately. Add beans, onions, chicken, and sesame seeds back into wok. Stir everything together for about a minute, until sauce has thickened. Serve over rice or noodles.