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Instant Pot Braised Beef (Chinese-Style) | An easy Instant Pot braised beef recipe that creates melt-in-your-mouth beef with a rich, well-rounded sauce that is very fragrant. Make it ahead of time and enjoy it throughout the week!

Instant Pot Braised Beef (Chinese-Style)

4.86 from 7 votes
An easy Instant Pot braised beef recipe that creates melt-in-your-mouth beef with a rich, well-rounded sauce that is very fragrant. Make it ahead of time and enjoy it throughout the week!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: instant pot
Servings: 8
Author: Maggie Zhu

Ingredients

  • 2.5 to 3 lbs (1 to 1.2 kg) brisket , cut into 2” (5 cm) chunks (neck bone, shin bone, or chuck)

Blanching

  • 2 ” (5 cm) ginger , sliced
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 star anise pods

Braising

  • 1 tablespoon peanut oil
  • 2 ” (5 cm) ginger , cut to think strips
  • 2 cloves garlic , smashed
  • 2 star anise pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy soy
  • 1 tablespoon Chee Hou sauce (or oyster sauce)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 3/4 cup reserved blanching broth

Instructions

  • Add the beef and 6 cups of water into a medium-sized pot. Add all the ingredients listed under “Blanching” above. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling. Turn to medium heat. Skim away any brown foam that rises to the top, until the broth runs clear, 10 minutes or so. (*Footnote 1)
  • Transfer the blanched beef to a colander and reserve the braising liquid (*Footnote 2). Run tap water over the beef and shake the beef, to rinse off any residue.
  • Turn on the Instant Pot’s “Saute” function. Let it heat up until it shows “HOT”.
  • Add the oil, ginger, garlic, star anise, and cinnamon stick. Saute until the ginger and garlic begin to brown, 2 minutes or so.
  • Add the Shaoxing wine. Scrape off any brown bits from the bottom of the pot using a wooden spatula.
  • Add all the “Braising” ingredients above and stir to mix well.
  • Add the blanched beef and stir. Arrange the beef into an even layer.
  • Seal the Instant Pot and make sure the valve lock is on. Set to “Manual” at “High Pressure”. Set the timer for 60 minutes if using brisket, 50 minutes for neck bones and shin bones, and 40 minutes for chuck.
  • Once the Instant Pot is done cooking, let it release the pressure naturally.
  • Open the Instant Pot and stir the beef with the broth. (*Footnote 3)
  • The beef is ready to serve now. For a better result, let the beef sit in the braising liquid the fridge overnight, so the seasonings will round out more and the beef will be more flavorful.
  • Serve the beef hot over steamed rice as a main course.

Notes

  1. You can do this step directly in the Instant Pot, as well. However, I prefer to blanch the beef on the stove top because it’s easier to control the heat.
  2. You only need 3/4 of a cup blanching liquid in this recipe. You can also reserve the rest of the liquid to use as beef stock in the future. I recommend using the liquid to make braised daikon radish with minced pork (use it in place of the chicken broth).
  3. If you’re using a fatty cut of beef, you might want to skim the floating oil from the top of the broth. You can do this with a ladle once you’re done cooking. For a better result, you can chill the beef in the fridge so the fat will congeal into a solid layer on top. Then you can easily remove the fat.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 290kcal, Carbohydrates: 1.9g, Protein: 43.7g, Fat: 10.7g, Saturated Fat: 3.6g, Cholesterol: 127mg, Sodium: 391mg, Potassium: 599mg, Sugar: 1.6g, Calcium: 3mg, Iron: 27mg