Pressure Cooker Braised Oxtail with Mushrooms

Ingredients

• Main: 800 g oxtail
• Main: 80–100 g onion (1 small onion), diced
• Main: 8–12 g garlic (2–3 cloves), minced
• Main: 150–200 g brown shimeji mushrooms
• Main: 200–250 g oyster mushrooms
• Fat: 10 g Kerrygold unsalted butter
• Fat: 10 ml neutral oil
• Flavor base: 15 g tomato paste
• Flavor base: 120 ml red wine, such as Gran Reserva or Malbec
• Flavor base: 350–400 ml beef stock or water
• Flavor base: 15 ml soy sauce
• Flavor base: 5 ml Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• Chili: choose 1 bird’s-eye chili sliced, or 1/2 jalapeño diced, or 1/4 habanero minced with seeds removed
• Seasoning: 4–5 g salt
• Seasoning: 1–2 g black pepper
• Seasoning: 1 bay leaf (optional)
• To serve: fried rice

Method

1. Prep the mushrooms. Cut off the dirty root base from the brown shimeji and separate into clusters. Tear the oyster mushrooms by hand into large pieces and trim any hard stem ends. Set aside.
2. Lightly season the oxtail with salt and black pepper. Do not oversalt yet because the soy sauce and later reduction will concentrate the seasoning.
3. Set the pressure cooker to sauté or high heat. Add the neutral oil and butter, then sear the oxtail deeply on the top, bottom, and sides. Work in batches if needed; aim for deep brown color, not gray meat. Remove the oxtail.
4. Build the flavor base in the same pot. Add the onion and cook for 6–8 minutes until golden. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then add the chili and stir for 20–30 seconds.
5. Deglaze with the red wine, scraping the bottom aggressively to lift the browned bits. Simmer for 2–3 minutes to cook off the alcohol.
6. Return the oxtail to the pot. Add the stock or water, soy sauce, optional Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaf. The liquid should come roughly halfway up the meat.
7. For a Fissler pressure cooker, set the valve to level 2, bring to pressure, then lower the heat once pressure is reached. Cook for 45 minutes at high pressure, then allow 15 minutes natural release.
8. Open the lid and add the shimeji and oyster mushrooms. Close the lid again, cook for 5 minutes at high pressure, then quick release.
9. Remove the lid and switch to sauté mode. Reduce the sauce for 5–10 minutes until glossy, slightly thickened, and able to coat a spoon. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper, or a tiny splash of soy sauce if needed.
10. Serve over fried rice, spooning the sauce generously over the rice, mushrooms, and oxtail.