It seems to me that filipinos tend to love stewed meats. Many filipino dishes are some version of a stew. Chicken works well as a stewed meat (and I think every filipino has taught all of their friends to love Chicken Adobo), but stewing beef has always been a hassle to me because the best stewed meat tends to be the cheaper cuts that require a lot of time to cook.
I got the idea to ask for a pressure cooker for Christmas after a trip home this past summer. Mom made one of my favorite dishes (boiled ox tail stew -- I am not kidding) and used a pressure cooker.
What intrigued me was the fact that my mother is probably the most nervous nellie I've ever known (I have fond memories of my mother reading the newspaper to me as a child, covering all of the murders and rapes and drug overdoses that could have easily happened to me had I not changed my underwear and socks and made my bed that morning). I figure if my mother didn't fear the popular urban myth of the exploding pressure cooker, then I could probably safely use one.
I've used it for one meal (stewed beef with bok choy) and I was amazed at how fast it cooked. This statement will make it clear to any asian/pacific islander out there:
START MAKING RICE BEFORE YOU START THE PRESSURE COOKER.
Yes, my almond-eyed friends, it cooks that fast. You have to remember to start up that rice cooker BEFORE you start cooking the main dish cuz it is done in 10-12 minutes flat.
This particular model is stainless steel, and depite the fact that it is pretty inexpensive, it is very solidly made. The safety features include the interlocking lid, a locking mechanism that forces a metal pin through the handle until all pressure has been released, a pressure regulator (in the picture, it looks like the lid handle), and a back-up valve designed to blow out if the pressure can not be released from the regulator.
I have to admit that, during the first use, when the steam started building up and the regulator started to rock back and forth, I was hunkered down behind the stove. If I had remembered where my bike helmet was, I'd have put it on. But once I got it going, I turned the heat down to 6 (on a 1-10 scale) and it pleasantly ticked away for 12 minutes. After this, I took the cooker off the hot stove, sat the cooker in the sink and ran cold tap water over it. After a few seconds, the regulator sank down against the lid, the locking pin dropped down, and it made a bit of a hissing sound as the pressure was released. It opened very easily, and the beef (2 pounds of pre-cut stew meat) was soft.
I was amazed. In the near future, I intend to try it on some beef ribs, a chuck roast, and oh yes, some ox tail.
Aside from my somewhat overdone fear of losing my face in a pressure cooker explosion, my other main problem with pressure cookers was that they would not taste right. I imagined that, even though the temperature hot hotter, it would not produce all of the chemical reactions that need time to take place. For instance, I had this weird thought that if you used water, the braising liquid would be clear, or at least not as thoroughly flavored.
But this is hardly the case. The broth comes out as flavorful as ever (depending on the spices you started out with, but even mostly water tasted great.)
One thing -- Mom has an advanced model that does not have the regulator (the metal knob on top that regulates pressure releasing steam as it rocks back and forth. Mom's has some type of valve that slowly releases a constant jet of water. I prefer my quieter friendly tinkling bells, rather than the the sound of a thousand slytherins. But, her pressure cooker is much larger.
Defenitely something to look into. And I think chicken adobo could be make a lot faster, and probably with less of the smell of vinegar permeating through the house. When covered, I could not smell the food outside of the pot unless I caught a waft of the bits of steam escaping out of the regulator.
You should give it a try.
Posted by: Eric | December 31, 2007 at 09:51 AM
hmm, I've been curious about this because Shawn loves kalderetta (with beef not goat) and that usually takes forever to stew. I made a "quick" Kalderetta after work one night using cubed up sirloin and although the meat was tender b/c of the cut things still didn't taste right until the next morning after all the flavors properly "infused" together, I bet the pressure cooker would help the flavors mix faster. We love our slow cooker but again that takes planning too. Just made "chicken cordon bleu" in it last night, soo good!
Posted by: Karen | December 31, 2007 at 05:54 AM