Last month I tried a Serious Eats recipe for pork chili verde in the pressure cooker. You can read about it here. It was good (and easy) but I wasn’t overwhelmed. I have a long-prep-and-cook version that I preferred. Or maybe I just didn’t give it enough of a chance; I think I didn’t pack enough umami punch with fish sauce and maybe not enough salt. So when I read the Serious Eats recipe for a similar chicken chili verde dish I thought I’d give it a second go. I’m glad I did. Oh, I’m glad I did.
My nephew and his wife are buying my old Subaru so we invited them for dinner to celebrate. We wanted to visit and complete the transaction so needed a simple dinner to prepare. I knew from before this recipe promised easy prep; fast cook; and delicious results. And I was confident I could pack a little more flavor. Okay I’m ready to give it another try. Peel some garlic; toast and grind some cumin (or use ground cumin); quarter some tomatillos; chop up a bunch of chilis (poblano, Anaheim, serrano, and jalapeño) and an onion and you are just about ready to go.
Chicken Chili Verde Mis En Place
It all goes in at once so we don’t need a bunch of bowls for separate ingredients.
I sprinkled some kosher salt on the chicken thighs about 20 minutes before cooking; then dumped the ingredients in together with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce. The soy sauce isn’t in the recipe but I know it’s a good way to get some more depth of flavor for meaty dishes. And when we aren’t sautéing things a little boost is good.
Put the pressure cooker (Instant Pot IP-DUO 60) on sauté and let some of the liquid express out of chilis and chicken for a few minutes. Then high pressure for 15 minutes. Pull the chicken pieces out and use an immersion blender to make a thick broth. Remove the chicken skin and shred the chicken and put into the broth. Add a tablespoon of fish sauce (it won’t make it taste fishy) and some cilantro if you aren’t cilantro averse.
Dish it up maybe with a side of these terrific refried beans . I made a pot of beans a week or so ago and pulled about three cups to cook and mash with onion and more chilis. A corn tortilla on the side and dinner is served.
I dished the chili up with a slotted spoon so we ended up with plenty of sauce and not much chicken left over. So, today we’ll pick up two or three more chicken thighs and cook them in the PC with the remaining sauce for leftovers. The beans are long gone so maybe we’ll serve it over rice tonight.
Great for company. The difference I think was I just didn’t have enough umami flavor in the pork version. A hefty pinch more of salt, a bit of soy sauce, and a larger glug of fish sauce solved the problem.
Verdict: ★★★★
Oh, and PS. I was playing around with backlighting objects in my photography. I got this one which has nothing to do with the meal; but I liked it.
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