Lickety Splickety - InstantPot Sticky Rice

Please don't be too put off that this is a recipe specific to a particular kitchen appliance. I will try to do a follow up to this post for the over the stove method, but since this is my new go-to, I just had to post it.

Since I am trying to prove the InstantPot's credibility in the kitchen, I do try various recipes to influence the other chef-y in the family. Now, admittedly, I did no one any favors because the first time I made anything in the InstantPot, I made asparagus. It was a horrific disaster. Ruined, and I mean ruined, this awesome bunch of asparagus.

So I've had a little bit of an uphill battle. Me, personally, I am unthwarted and utterly undeterred by a kitchen disaster. I mean, I've blown up my fridge, people, making beer cheese bread. No joke, like shattered the glass shelve that was sadly blocking it's projectile ways... but, I digress.

This, is a HUGELY successful, repeatable and reliable recipe that I am just tickled over. Why? Because it truly makes a more complex task such as traditionally steaming sticky, or glutinous, rice into a set-it-and-forget-it staple. It was a real "aha" moment for me when I made it for the first time. And the InstantPot really did it better than I ever have managed to do it any other way.

So let's get to it, shall we?

InstantPot prep: 
-Instantpot, using standard stainless insert
-Stainless trivet with handles makes it easier, optional
-Stainless bowl that fits your InstantPot

Ingredients:
-1 c sticky rice (If your package says "sweet"or "glutinous" rice, it's the same thing)
-2/3 c cold water to cover rice

Method:

1. Add 1 c water to the stainless insert.
2. Add 1 c sticky rice to stainless bowl and cover with 2/3 c. of cold water. If you have any grains peeking above the water line, push them in the pool with a chopstick or something or they won't cook and be hard little nuggets. No bueno. Don't do this step until you are ready to cook. This rice absorbs water and it may make it mushy if you prep this too far in advance.
3. Place the stainless steel into the center of the trivet and use the handles to gently place inside the InstantPot's stainless steel insert. If you don't have this little trivet, just put your bowl inside. All will be well.
4. Place lid on the InstantPot, locking it into place. Don't forget to turn your pressure valve seal into the closed position. Sometimes I forget and that sucks. You have to start your timer again.
5. Pressure Cook for 12 minutes. Natural release for 5 minutes. Then open that pressure valve up at the 5 minute mark to quick release the rest of the steam. We really want to control the cook time here so that's why I always set the timer for 12 minutes then make sure I am close by to watch the next 5 minutes so I can finish releasing the steam quickly. It's perfect.

Tips: 

You can definitely increase or double the portions of this recipe. The important part: the water in the InstantPot that is used to steam, stays the same regardless of how much rice you are making. Neat, hut? So it's super easy just to multiply the rice and water you need for the rice itself.

If you do double the recipe, you also need to increase the first Pressure Cook to 24 minutes. Natural release after 5 minutes.  I've tried this doubled and it worked fine.

Like I mentioned above, it's best not to add your water to your rice until you are ready to cook. Just what I've found by trial and error. If I prep this too soon, I find it actually changes the balance and make the sticky rice a bit mushy. Not to worry, I just let the rice vent a bit to air out and that takes the mush right out. You'll see what I mean. Bottom line, don't be too proud to mess it up, Mary. Just give it a try and make it how you like it. 

We serve this dish with Thai red curry or Thai mango or papaya salad. It's a great "dipper" rice in that traditionally, you grab a piece of rice with your hands and use it to scoop or push other foods. It absorbs sauces and is just a righteous accompaniment to any spicy, saucy affair.

Jasmine Rice:
Jasmine rice is a more standard long grain rice that is even easier to make. No trivet or stainless bowl necessary as you can do this one right in the stainless steel insert of the InstantPot. Pressure cooking rice is different than steaming... in that pressure cooking requires far less water than the steam method. Once again, the InstantPot shines once you have the correct ratios and process down. Super easy to multiply your servings, too. Same cook time regardless of how much you make, which is cool.

1 c water
1 c jasmine rice
sea salt, optional

1. Super key: rinse your jasmine rice well until the water runs clean. A must whether steaming or doing this in the InstantPot. AND. Do not add your water ahead of time. Just like above, when making sticky rice, you must do this and immediately begin the cooking process or it will goof it all up and be mushy. Trust me.
2. Pressure Cook for 3 minutes and natural steam release for 10 minutes (which basically means you do nothing and just wait 10 more minutes once the 3 minute pressure cook is complete). 
3. Manually release the steam, turning your steam valve to open away from your face, hopefully. Always be careful when venting so stand back; be smart. Perfectly safe to release the vent on your InstantPot as long as you don't stand over it like a dummy.
4. Open the lid immediately and fluff with a fork. This releases any excess moisture and you can put the lid back on to keep warm once you've finished the cook. 

Osso Bucco to you, too! - InstantPot Bucco

Oooh, for all you InstantPotties out there... you are gonna love this! One of my favorite Fall recipes is Osso Bucco but could it be replicated using my InstantPot, I wondered?

This recipe turned out beautifully and although the prepping may be a bit more involved than just a one-pot dump sorta getup, the joy I got just knowing that this knockout of a meal would be ready without much more effort on my part, sorta made me swoon in anticipation.

Whether you are prepping this for serving the same day or the next day, the "doneness" test is really a matter of personal preference. Me? I like the oxtails super tender and falling off the bone BUT still on the bone. You may have to play with this a little bit based on your taste factors, but I found it super easy and just as rewarding to make this dish using the InstantPot.

Get ready, it's so worthy.

Ingredients for Dredging:

• Flour
• Italian seasonings (Rustic Tuscan from Costco is great)
• salt, pepper

Ingredients for Osso Bucco:

• 1-2 lbs of fresh, pre-cut oxtails
• 1-2 fresh carrots, diced
• 1-2 stalks of fresh celery, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 fresh or dried bay leaves
• a bouquet garni of fresh thyme, rosemary (I tie it in a string to make fishing it out easier later)
• 1 tbsp of Better than Bouillon roasted garlic (optional)
• 1 c of dry white wine
• 3 c of chicken stock
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste

Dredge the meat:
In a lidded container, ziplock, bowl or plate, add about 2 c flour, 1 tbsp of Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. Dredge the oxtails, coating the oxtails well. I use a lidded click-clack style container to make quick work of this, shaking the oxtails in the dredge, with the lid on, of course.

Prep the InstantPot for Bucco:

1. On Saute mode, add a tbsp of coconut oil and a tbsp of butter or ghee.  
2. Sear the oxtails, browning on all sides. I find that I have to turn the Saute function back on a few times but I didn't mind that. It seems that the Saute function prevents the pot from getting too hot so I didn't burn them at all, which was kinda nice as a fail safe.
3. Once the oxtails have all been browned, I remove them from the InstantPot to a clean plate so I can saute the veggies and let the browned meat rest in the meantime.
4. Add the chopped veggies and tomato paste, stirring to incorporate and being careful not to let it burn as the sugars in the tomato paste will start to caramelize. 
5. If you start to see it sticking, then go ahead and add the white wine to help with the deglazing of the browning bits while the veggies saute a few minutes more. 
6. Once the tomato paste has been incorporated, add the rest of the chicken stock, the bay leaves, the Better than Bouillon if you are using it and the bouquet garni of fresh herbs.
7. Put the InstanPot lid back on. Press Cancel to stop the Saute mode.
8. Select Pressure Cook for 40 minutes and leave it to steam vent naturally. I usually cook this overnight so once this goes off, I will put it on Stew mode just to cover my overnight cooking goodness. This is entirely optional and might be handy if after the first Pressure Cook, using natural steam release, the meat isn't as tender as you'd like.

I don't usually add any additional salt until after it's done cooking as the BtB contains a good bit of sodium. If you need it, add salt and pepper to taste just before or at serving time when you can taste it properly.

Other traditional garnishes:

• Zest of a lemon or orange
• fresh rosemary and thyme
• fresh parsley
• lemon wedges

Serving Suggestions:

I typically serve this dish with pasta or gnocchi of some sort. One of my go-to starches is orzo pasta but you can use whatever you prefer, including rice, baked potatoes, baked baby reds, veggies, whatever floats your bucco boat.

I was pretty blown away by how good this turned out. It is a simple recipe really and the hardest part is just prepping the diced veggies and browning the meat. If you can do that, then you can rock the house with this dish. 

I don't think, however, that if I was serving more than 4 people, that I'd use this method unless I had two intantpots. In that case, I'd just do it the old fashioned way and slow cook in the oven using a Creuset of some sort at 325 for 3-4 hours or so.