Chinese-Style Pork Bone Soup with Instant Pot

A hearty and refreshing pork bone soup that is perfect for the cold weather as it will warm up your body. Also, not to mention that it is also healthy as it contains many nutritious vegetables and great protein for your body. Juicy, melt-in-your-mouth pork bone, soft chewy tendon, rich-in-fiber vegetables that is being stewed for hours to release the natural flavors of each ingredients. However, thanks to Instant Pot, the cooking time can be reduced tremendously while not compensating the taste. Of course, you can still use the traditional cooking method to make this soup. Make sure you give at least an hour or two to cook the pork bone and the tendon so that they are soft.

Though this pork bone soup looks a bit complicated to make, it is actually the opposite. It is super easy to make. The “complicated” part to make this pork bone soup is actually TIME. Why it’s easy? Basically, you just put everything into the instant pot (or a big pot – if using the traditional method) and let the heat do wonders for you. Flavor-wise, this pork bone soup with tendon is very soothing, comforting, healthy yet flavorful. Please give it a try and you will know what I mean 😊 Let’s get cooking, shall we?

Tools I used:

• Instant Pot – This is a gadget that can replace many of your other kitchen gadgets. I have used it for making soup, cooking rice, ‘baking’ pork ribs, making porridge, and many more. Very good tool to have.

Tip: You can be creative with the vegetables that you would like to have in this soup. Add whichever you like, but, at the very basic, you should have carrot and tomato. Some ideas would be celery, corn, potato, tofu and so on.

Ingredient:

• 2lbs pork bone – cut into small chunks
• ½ lb tendon – cleaned
• 1 carrot – cut into small cubes
• 2 yellow corns – divide each corn into 4 pieces
• 10-15 cherry tomatoes – removed the stems and cleaned
• 2 stalks scallion – chopped
• 1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
• 1 ½ cup water
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• Salt and pepper

Direction:

• Clean pork bone, tendon, and all the vegetables. Note: Do not attempt to cut the tendon as it is still very hot. You can cut it later once it’s cooked and is softer.
• Add the pork bone and tendon into the inner bowl of Instant Pot. Add 1 ½ water or until all the meat are submerged.
• Close the lid of Instant Pot and ensure that the vent is properly closed. Then, press “Meat Stew” (MORE) function. Let it cook.
• Once it is done, let it release the steam naturally. When it is safe, open the lid.
• Take out the tendon and cut into bite-sized pieces. Remove excess fat from the top of the soup.
• Except for the chopped scallion, add carrot, tomatoes, corn, chicken broth, minced garlic, cumin, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Press “Sauté” (LESS) function. Remember to OPEN THE LID when you use “Sauté” function.
• Add back the cut tendon. Occasionally give it a stir while it’s cooking. If the tendon or vegetables are not as soft to your liking, you can press “Sauté” (LESS) function again to cook it a bit longer. Each press of the “Sauté” function will be about 20-30 minutes cooking time.
• Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning according to your taste bud.
• Once the cooking is done. Transfer to the serving bowl and eat while it’s still warm. Enjoy!