Instant Pot Pork Rib Soup

Ingredients

• 2 pounds (918g) baby back ribs
• 1 - 2 teaspoons (5ml - 10ml) vegetable oil
• 2 slices (3.5g) ginger
• 6 (27g) garlic cloves (, crushed)
• 1 teaspoon (2g) fennel seeds
• 6½ cups (1625ml) cold water
• 1 teaspoon (7g) fine table salt
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) regular soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) fish sauce
• 2 (0.5g) bay leaves
• 2 (10g) dried shiitake mushrooms (, rinsed)
• 1 (200g) large leek (, cleaned & cut in half)
• 1 (345g) large carrot (, chopped into 1-inch chunks)
• 1 (447g) zucchini (, chopped into ½-inch chunks)
• Cooked noodles (i.e. Knife-cut noodles, rice noodles, or your favorite noodles (70g - 100g per person))
• 1 stalk green onion (, finely sliced)

Steps

1. 1

   Sauté Ginger, Green Onion, Garlic: Heat up Instant Pot using “Sauté More” function. Wait until Instant Pot says “HOT” (~8 mins). Add 1 to 2 tsp vegetable oil in Instant Pot. Make sure to coat the oil well over the whole bottom of the pot. Add in 2 ginger slices, crushed garlic, and fennel seeds, then saute for 2 mins.

2. 2

   Deglaze Instant Pot: Pour 1 cup (250ml) cold water in Instant Pot. Then deglaze by scrubbing all the flavorful brown bits (if any) off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Give it a quick mix.

3. 3

   Pressure Cook Pork Ribs Soup: Add in 1 tsp (7g) fine table salt, 1 tbsp (15ml) regular soy sauce, 1 tbsp (15ml) fish sauce, and 2 bay leaves. Give it a quick mix. Add in baby back ribs as shown in photo. Add in dried shiitake mushrooms, leeks, and 5 cups (1.25L) cold water. Make sure the leeks are fully submerged in the cooking liquid. Layer carrot chunks on top. With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position. Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 20 minutes, then Natural Release for 20 minutes. Open the lid carefully.

4. 4

   Optional - Cook Noodles: When Instant Pot's pressure cooking cycle ends and switches to the natural release stage, boil 1.5L 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. For Reference: Our thin egg noodles took 4 minutes to cook.

5. 5

   Cook Zucchini and Cut Ribs: Transfer ribs to a tray. Be careful because the ribs will be quite tender. Remove the leeks and ginger. Set aside the carrots and shiitake mushrooms. Then, strain all the spices from the soup with a meshed strainer. Let the ribs cool down a little and cut them into serving size. Cut the shiitake mushrooms into halves. If you like, you can use a Fat separator to remove some of the fat from the soup. Bring the pork ribs soup back to a boil with "Saute High" function. If you have a glass lid, cover the Instant Pot with a glass lid to speed up this step. Add zucchini to the Instant Pot, then cook until desired texture. It'll take roughly 5 to 7 mins depending on your desired texture.

6. 6

   Season & Serve: Taste and season the pork ribs soup with a few pinches of kosher salt. For reference, we added 1 extra pinch of kosher salt at the end. Assemble the bowl by placing the cooked noodles, zucchini, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and ribs in large serving bowls. Pour in the hot tasty broth, then garnish with finely sliced green onions. Enjoy~