Korean-ish chicken stew with noodles

I like following recipes faithfully. Mostly. But, I will find often myself without one or two essential ingredients, necessitating a quick hack. This was one such event, and I was rather happy with how my version turned out. The original recipe is from here. I pared it down to a single family meal (2.5 portions), and used egg noodles (the chowmein noodle kind). I had to adjust the water volume to cook the noodles, and I also used water from my reconstituted mushrooms. I keep a 12″ pan on my stovetop somewhat permanently, and use it to brown everything before tossing in the IP. My pan cleans easily, and it offers a larger surface area for browning. Besides, it sits right under my kitchen vent hood, making ventilation so much easier!

Here’s my version.

• 1 lb chicken thighs- skinless boneless, chopped into big pieces
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 garlic pearls, crushed
• 1” ginger, peeled & minced
• 1 cup halved baby carrots
• 2 white potatoes, cubed
• dry maitake/shiitake, reconstituted in 3/4 cup hot water (save the water)

Sauce:

• 1/4 cup soy
• 1 tbsp each: dark brown sugar, oyster sauce, rice wine
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• add part of the fresh ginger from ingredient list to sauce.

Tools:

• Instant Pot (Smart IP)
• 12″ fry pan to saute in.

Method

Mix all sauce ingredients together. Add part of fresh ginger from ingredient list to sauce.

Preheat IP on Saute setting, while using a pan to brown onions. Drizzle some oil in IP when it warms.

Saute onions in a pan. When brown, add garlic, half the ginger. Continue to saute, 2 mins.

Transfer to (now hot) IP. Add any remaining veggies to IP. Stir occasionally.

Add chicken to pan, brown as specified. Add S&P.
Transfer chicken to IP
Deglaze pan with mushroom water (if reconstituting) or water+soy. Mix deglazing liquid with sauce.
Add sauce to IP.

Cook on Poultry 10-12.
Cancel IP
Set IP to Saute.

Add 1 cup hot water to have enough liquid to cook noodles.
Add quick noodles like egg noodles or vermicelli, removing chicken if you need space. I removed the chicken both for space as well as to avoid overcooking.

Serve. Fresh cilantro leaves optional.