If anything could make me embrace my Instant Pot for something other than yogurt it might be the newest starter sauces from Omsom. They’ve partnered with Instant Pot and Instant Air Fryer to produce a trio of limited-edition starter packets. When Omsom offered to send me a set I jumped at the chance to try them.
The set includes 2 packets each of their Lemongrass BBQ, Spicy Bulgogi and Mala Salad with recipes for both the Instant Pot and the Air Fryer.
Mala braised cod with bok choy was the first to catch my eye since there was bok choy lurking in the fridge and all it needed was a nice piece of cod. With all 3 starters, you sauté some aromatics (garlic, onion, scallions) pressure cook the protein for 5-15 minutes and manually vent.
The cod came out perfectly cooked — moist and flaky. The Mala sauce is good, and really spicy, with a big kick from Szechuan peppercorns, so be forewarned before you think about adding the optional jalapeno. Unfortunately the bok choy ended up really over-cooked. Not sure if it’s because I used regular bok choy, sliced into about 1″pieces instead of the baby bok choy the recipe specified, but it was mush. There was also a lot of broth, because you need to have liquid for the pressure cooker feature of the Instant Pot.
What I love about the Omsom sauces is how fast and easily you can get dinner on the table. The cod was easy enough but took almost 45 minutes from start to plate. Fish might have been an unfair test as it would take almost no time in either the Instant Pot or the stovetop.
With the intention of giving another one of the starters a shot in the Instant Pot, I prepped the Lemongrass BBQ Chicken, marinating the chicken overnight, but when it came down to lugging out my Instant Pot and going through a bunch of steps to braise it or pulling out a frying pan and stir-frying the chicken for 6 minutes, the frying pan won (and the chicken and asparagus was perfectly cooked and delicious). Just goes to show, make a great product and it works, whether you choose pan or Instant Pot.
Omsom’s original starters are so good and so quick that they have a place of honor in my pantry. If you’re in love with your Instant Pot, give the new sauces a try, they’ll add wonderful flavors to whatever you like to cook. Since I have yet to succumb to the air fryer craze, I can’t vouch for the air fryer recipes, but they look good (especially the Spicy Bulgogi Pork Belly!) and might be what I need to push “add to cart”.
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