Instant Pot Chinese Sausage Rice (腊肠饭)

Prep

1. Add the dried shiitake mushrooms in a medium size bowl and pour in hot water. Soak until the mushrooms turn soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Once done, squeeze the liquid out of the mushrooms into the soaking water. Slice the mushrooms thinly. Reserve the soaking water for cooking.

Instant Pot

1. Turn on the “Saute” function on your Instant Pot and wait until it’s warmed up (*Footnote 2). Add the butter and stir a few times until it melts.
2. Add the shallot and shiitake mushrooms. Stir a few times to coat well with butter. Then spread the ingredients into a single layer. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 minutes or so.
3. Add the Chinese sausage. Cook and stir until the edges turn light golden, 2 minutes.
4. Pour in the Shaoxing wine. Use your spatula to release any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. This is very important. If you don’t deglaze the pot thoroughly, you might get a “burn food” error later on. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
5. Turn off “Saute”. Add the rice. Stir to mix the rice evenly with the other ingredients. Add the chicken stock, 1/2 cup mushroom soaking liquid, water chestnuts, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and salt. Stir to mix well.
6. Cover the Instant Pot and seal the valve. Set on “Manual” at high pressure for 12 minutes.
7. Once the Instant Pot is done cooking, wait for at least 5 minutes, then switch to fast release by using the release button on your Instant Pot lid. Stay away from the Instant Pot to avoid being burned by the hot steam coming out of the pot when using fast release.
8. Fluff the rice and garnish with sliced green onions. Serve hot as a main or side dish.
9. Store the leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months. Reheat in the microwave before serving.