#weeknight

© John Kernick

Linguine with Red Cabbage

© Jody Horton

Baby Kale and Steak Salad

PHOTO © Cedric Angeles

Seafood Pastas

Instant Pot Honey Soy Chicken Thighs

Servings: 6

STUFF
6 pieces of boneless chicken thighs 6 - 7 oz each, 2 - 2.5 lbs total
¼ cup honey
¼ cup light soy sauce
1 tbsp chili flakes crushed red pepper (optional)
4 - 5 garlic cloves
1 tbsp good quality chicken stock paste or 1 cube
½ yellow onion sliced thin (or 4 - 5 spring onions, sliced into big pieces)
2 whole star anise
¼ cup water
1 - 2 tbsp water
1 tbsp cornstarch
Sliced green onion and sesame seeds, for serving

STEPS
Add the chicken into the Instant Pot, and scrape in any leftover marinade in the bowl as well. Add the water and star anise and mix well.

Place the chicken, honey, soy sauce, and chili flakes in a bowl, and mix to coat well. Set aside. (If you’d like the chicken to be even more flavorful, you can let it marinate for about 1 hour, or up to 24 hours).

Set the instant pot to the saute setting. When the pot is hot, add about 1 tbsp of oil. Saute the onions and garlic cloves until the onions have softened and there’s some caramelization on the garlic cloves. Add the chicken stock paste (or crushed up cube) and mix it in with the onion and garlic.

Lock on the IP lid (vent closed) and set the IP to cook the chicken on high pressure for 7 minutes, and natural release for 5 minutes. Open the vent and allow the IP to depressurize.

Remove the chicken from the pot, and transfer them to a plate or a lined baking tray (if caramelizing - see below). Mash up the softened pieces of garlic cloves with a spoon or fork inside the cooking liquid.

Set the IP to saute. Mix the water and cornstarch together in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

When the cooking liquid starts to simmer, add half of the cornstarch slurry and stir through to thicken. Simmer for 1 minute. If you’d like to thicken the sauce further, stir in the rest of the cornstarch slurry and simmer for at least another minute. If you’re happy with the consistency of the sauce, let it simmer for a few minutes and then keep it warm until the chicken is ready.

Taste and season with more salt if necessary.

NOTES
If you’re using smaller chicken thighs, you can reduce the cook time to about 6 minutes. If you prefer the chicken to be cooked to a point where it’s really soft, then cook the chicken for a further 1 - 2 minutes.

If you’re using bone-in (skinless or skin-on) chicken, increase the cook time to 11 - 12 minutes (for large chicken thighs), or 9 minutes for smaller chicken thighs.

If you’re doubling the recipe, double the amount of honey, soy, garlic, chicken stock, chili flakes and onion. But keep the amount of star anise the same, and you can eliminate the water altogether (because the marinate will provide enough liquid for the recipe). You may need more cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.

Miso-Eggplant Spaghetti

Servings: 1
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes

STUFF
¹/₂ pound Japanese eggplants (regular works, too), diced into 1-inch pieces
¹/₂ red onion, thickly sliced
1 pinch kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons white miso
2 teaspoons mirin
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
¹/₂ teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove, grated
¹/₄ pound spaghetti
1 scallion, thinly sliced, for garnish (optional)

STEPS
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a quarter sheet pan, toss together the eggplant, red onion, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until charred at the edges.

Meanwhile, in a small dish, stir together the miso, mirin, vinegar, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes.

About 15 minutes into the vegetables’ roasting time, bring a pot of water to a boil, salt generously, then cook the spaghetti according to package instructions. Reserve some of the cooking liquid, then drain.

In the same (still very hot!) pot over low heat, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and garlic and stir about 30 seconds, or until garlic is fragrant. Add the miso-mirin mixture, stirring 30 seconds more to caramelize miso and cook off the wine (it should bubble up violently). Toss the drained spaghetti into this, cooking over the heat and stirring constantly until well-coated in the garlicky miso. At this step you can add a splash of the reserved cooking liquid if your pasta gets too tight (I usually don’t need to but appreciate the insurance).

Gently stir in the roasted eggplant and red onion. Garnish with scallions, if you’d like.