Instant Pot Chinese Beef Brisket Soup (清湯牛腩)

Ingredients

• 2 - 3 pounds (960g) veal brisket (牛仔腩) (1¼” inch thick) or 2 - 3 pounds (1358g) beef finger meat (牛坑腩)
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable oil
• 3 (12g) garlic cloves (, crushed)
• 2 slices (3.5g) ginger
• 1 stalk green onion (, finely sliced the green part)
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) Shaoxing wine
• 6½ cups (1625ml) cold water
• 1 teaspoon (7g) fine table salt
• 1½ teaspoons (6g) dashi powder
• 1½ teaspoons (2.7g) Sichuan peppercorn (花椒)
• 2 (0.35g) bay leaves
• 2 (3g) star anise (八角)
• 1 (7g) Chinese cinnamon stick (Chinese cassia bark 肉桂皮)
• Optional: 1 (1g) black cardamom (草果)
• 20 grams rock sugar (黃冰糖)
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) regular soy sauce
• 1 (230g) large leek (, cut into chunks)
• 1 (712g) daikon (, cut into 1” chunks)
• Cooked noodles i.e. Knife-cut noodles, rice noodles, or your favorite noodles (, 70g - 100g per person)
• ¼ cup cilantro (, chopped)

Steps

1. 1

   Brown Beef Brisket: Heat up Instant Pot using “Sauté More” function. Wait until Instant Pot says “HOT”. Pat dry Veal brisket or Beef finger meat with a paper towel. We are not using any seasoning during this beef browning step.Add 1 tbsp (15ml) vegetable oil in Instant Pot. Make sure to coat the oil well over the whole bottom of the pot. Place the beef in Instant Pot. For Veal Brisket: Brown each side for 5 minutes. For Beef Finger Meat: Brown 2 sides of beef finger meat for 3 minutes per side. Brown in two batches to avoid overcrowding the pot. When the beef is nicely browned, remove and set aside.

2. 2

   Saute Garlic, Ginger, Green Onion (White Part): Add crushed garlic cloves, ginger slices, and the white part of the green onion in Instant Pot, then saute for a minute.

3. 3

   Deglaze Instant Pot: Add 1 tbsp (15ml) Shaoxing wine, and give it a few quick scrubs. Pour 1 cup (250ml) cold water in Instant Pot, then completely deglaze the bottom of the pot by scrubbing the flavorful brown bits with a wooden spoon.

4. 4

   Pressure Cook Beef Brisket Soup: Add 1 tsp (7g) fine table salt, 1½ tsp (6g) dashi powder, 1½ tsp (2.7g) Sichuan peppercorn, 2 bay leaves, 2 star anise, 1 Chinese cinnamon stick, 1 black cardamom (optional), 20g rock sugar, 1 tbsp (15ml) fish sauce, and 1 tbsp (15ml) regular soy sauce in the Instant Pot. Give it a quick mix. Add 5½ cups (1375ml) cold water and give it a quick mix again. Add browned beef, all the meat juice, and leek chunks in Instant Pot. With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position. For Veal Brisket: Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 30 minutes, then Natural Release for 20 minutes. For Beef Finger Meat: Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 15 minutes, then Natural Release for 20 minutes. Release the remaining pressure, then open the lid carefully.

5. 5

   Pressure Cook Beef & Daikon: Add daikon chunks in Instant Pot. Make sure they're at least 90% submerged in the cooking liquid. With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position. Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes, then Natural Release for 16 minutes. Release the remaining pressure, then open the lid carefully.

6. 6

   Optional Step - Cook Noodles: When Instant Pot switches to the natural release stage, boil 1.5L cold water and 1 tsp salt on the stovetop. You can add 1 tsp oil to the water to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Once the water starts boiling, cook noodles according to your preferences. Then drain and set them aside.

7. 7

   Cut Daikon & Beef: Set aside beef and daikon on an oven tray. Allow them to cool down a little before cutting. Use a fine mesh strainer to remove everything else in the broth. You can eat the leek chunks if you like. Discard the rest. Use a fat separator or a ladle to remove the fat from the broth. Cut daikon in half and put them back in the broth. Carefully cut the brisket (it’s quite hot).

8. 8

   Season & Serve: Taste and season the broth with more salt if necessary. For reference, we added 1 large pinch of salt for a cleaner taste and 2 large pinches of salt if serving the soup with noodles. To serve, place the daikon at the bottom, then layer the chopped beef on top. Drizzle with broth and garnish with finely sliced green onion and chopped cilantro. Enjoy~