Japanese Pork Tender Rib Stew (Pressure Cooker + Stovetop + Video)

This Japanese pork tender rib stew dish can be served with rice or noodle soup. For those who don’t have an Instant Pot yet, I inserted the stovetop instructions for making this delicious dish.

It’s so much fun to explore the functions of my new kitchen toy, Instant Pot. This time my project was to test its “stew” function.

The pork tender ribs ( aka 豬軟骨 pork cartilage) from a nearby Asian butcher was only required 35 minutes of pressure cooking. They turned really tender with almost-fell-off-the-bone meat.

I had to proceed very carefully in order to pick up the cooked ribs with a pair of chopsticks and filmed it. The radish was a must to add in, taking the whole dish up a level, adding an extra texture.

Hope you all enjoy it as much as we did. Watch the tutorial video!

Japanese Pork Tender Rib Stew Recipe

(Printable recipe) By Christine’s Recipes
Course: Pork, Stew
Cuisine: Asian, Pressure Cooker
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 820 gm soft pork ribs (aka pork cartilage)
• 4 slices ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 60 ml (3 Tbsp) Japanese salt-reduced light soy sauce
• 40 ml (2 Tbsp) mirin
• 20 ml (1 Tbsp) cooking rice wine
• 3 tsp white vinegar
• 10 gm ( ½ Tbsp) rock sugar, roughly pounded
• 1 cup water
• 400 gm radish, peeled and roughly chopped
• salt, to taste
• spring onion, for garnish

Thickening:

• 2 tsp corn flour / corn starch
• 1 Tbsp water

Instant Pot Method:

1. Blanch the pork ribs. Drain well. Set aside.
2. Use an Instant Pot (See instructions below for stovetop pot), press “Saute” (medium) to heat oil. Brown the pork ribs on both sides in two batches. Return all the pork ribs into the pot.
3. Add in ginger, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, wine, vinegar, rock sugar and water. Cover and turn the steam release handle to the “sealing” position. Set “Meat/Stew”, high pressure, for 35 minutes. When the programme finishes, wait 5 minutes, then run quick pressure release carefully. After the float valve drops to the down position, you’ll find the lid can be removed easily. Add in the radish. Cover the lid with “sealing” position again. Press “Meat/Stew” and cook for another 10 minutes. Quickly release the pressure. When the valve drops, remove the lid and press "Sauté" button to reduce the sauce by 1/3. Season with salt. Stir in the thickening and cook to your preferred consistency. Garnish with spring onion. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Stovetop cooking method:

1. Follow the above instructions to prepare all the ingredients.
2. You need to add 2 more cups of water to cook the ribs, following the above steps. 
3. When it boils, reduce the stove heat and simmer for 1 ½ hours or until the ribs are softened. Add in the radish at about 20 minutes before seasoning and adding thickening.

Notes：

• Before adding in the radish, I used a fat separator to remove the oil on the sauce surface, followed by remaining steps. You might like to use a large spoon instead.
• By adding rock sugar, the sauce will become glossy and more attractive to dig in.
• Just in case you're interested in getting an Instant Pot. I got it from Amazon (UK) as the model for sale in UK, with 220 volts, suitable for using in Australia.
• If you’re living in US or any countries with 110~120 volts electrical system, the model listed on Amazon (US) is the one to go for.