Instant Pot Braised Beef Short Ribs with Carrots (电压锅牛肉烧胡萝卜Dian Ya Guo Niu Rou Shao Hu Luo Bo)

Gather all the ingredients. Cut the white part of the green onion into 1-inch long chunks. Cut the ginger into thin slices. Roll-cut the carrots into large chunks. (When roll cutting, cut the carrots at a diagonal, rotate the carrots 45 degrees, then cut again at the same diagonal. Keep repeating this same pattern.) If your carrots come with carrot tops attached, don’t discard them. Try this simple carrot top recipe.

Wash the short ribs with running cold water and pat them dry with paper towel. Cut the short ribs along the meat part (there are clear parts where the bones are). Season with a pinch of kosher salt.

Press the “Sauté” button on the Instant Pot and add the 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the 2 medium sized rock sugar pieces. Stir often to prevent rock sugar from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

When all the rock sugar pieces dissolve into caramel (about 5 minutes), add the short ribs, immediately stirring and tossing to cover all the short rib pieces with the rock sugar caramel.

After all the short ribs are covered with caramel, add the carrot chunks, stirring to combine. Then pour in the 1.5 cups of hot water (make sure it’s hot) to cover all the short ribs and carrots.

Add the rest of the ingredients: green onion chunks, ginger slices, 2 star anises, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine. Optionally, add the 2 dried chili peppers or 1 teaspoon of spicy fermented bean paste for a spicy kick, mixing well.

Press the “Cancel” button to stop the sautéing process. Close and lock the lid. Make sure the stem valve points towards “sealing,” and not “venting.” Press the “Meat/Stew” button and increase the timer to 45 minutes (or 40 minutes if using boneless short ribs).

When the Instant Pot is done cooking, it will switch to “Keep Warm” mode automatically. You can use a utensil to manually switch the valve to the “Venting” position to let out the steam. (WARNING: Never use your hand to turn the valve as the steam will be hot. ALWAYS follow all safety instructions that come with your particular Instant Pot.) Optionally, if you are not pressed for time, wait 15-20 minutes until the Instant Pot naturally releases pressure. No matter the method, be sure to wait until the little floater next to the valve drops down before opening the lid.

Transfer the short ribs along with the carrot chunks and some liquid sauce to a large plate.