Despite its reputed speed at getting dinner done, the pressure cooker was slow to win me over.
Sure, its skill with baked beans and brisket is impressive, and I'm a sucker for a pressure cooked batch of rice pudding. But as a weekday cooking device, I've never felt that it shaved much more than five or ten minutes off what it would have taken me to prepare the meal on the stovetop. And that's just not enough to justify another gizmo in the kitchen.
That is, until I discovered that the pressure cooker is capable of solving my No 1 kitchen annoyance–frozen meat.
And then I learned an important thing about pressure cookers: They are perfectly capable of cooking completely frozen meat, and it adds only a few minutes to the cooking time. That meant I could open the freezer at 6 pm, grab a package of chicken and have dinner on the table 30 minutes later.
Pressure cooker teriyaki chicken
Lucky enough to have thought ahead and thawed your chicken? You can still make this recipe. Just reduce the cooking time to seven minutes at high pressure. If your chicken thighs are frozen together in the package, microwave on medium power for one to two minutes, or until just able to break them apart.
Start to finish:
30 minutes
Servings: 4
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp hot sauce
2 lbs frozen boneless,
skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
Cooked brown rice, to serve
Scallions, finely chopped, to serve
Roasted peanuts, chopped, to serve
METHOD
In an electric pressure cooker, whisk together the soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, brown sugar, honey, garlic, ginger and hot sauce. Add the chicken thighs, stirring to coat with the sauce. Place the lid on the pressure cooker and set to cook at high pressure for 20 minutes according to manufacturer directions.
Release the pressure according to your cooker's quick release instructions. In a small glass, stir together the cornstarch and water, then add to the cooker. Switch the cooker to saute mode and simmer, stirring often, until thickened, about two minutes.
Mound brown rice on each serving plate, then top with chicken. Spoon teriyaki sauce over the chicken and rice, then sprinkle with scallions and peanuts.
Nutrition information per serving
520 calories; 120 calories from fat (23 per cent of total calories); 14 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 215 mg cholesterol; 46 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 18 g sugar; 52 g protein; 1,520 mg sodium. �2Recipe by AP Food Editor JM Hirsch.