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Instant Pot Chinese Pork Shoulder Soup

Instant Pot Chinese Pork Shoulder Soup made with baby bok choy, shittake mushrooms, and egg noodles in a rich broth seasoned with Chinese Five Spice.

The Instant Pot (or an electric pressure cooker) is a great tool to use to get tender slow cooker meat in a fraction of the time. Although this dish takes about 90 minutes to make from start to finish it’s mainly hands off time that allows you to place your focus elsewhere.

Not sure if your family will be interested in trying something new like this dish? Visit my kid-friendly Asian food guide for tips, tricks, and resources to help introduce new foods to your family.

Two bowls of chinese pork shoulder soup on a yellow table

Ingredients you need: 

  • Chinese Five spice
  • kosher salt
  • crushed red pepper
  • soy sauce
  • dark brown sugar
  • sesame oil
  • chicken broth
  • green onions
  • garlic
  • ginger 
  • shiitake mushrooms
  • pork shoulder
  • baby bok choy
  • fine egg noodles

What is Chinese Five Spice?

There are many variations of Chinese Five Spice but the most common ingredients included are Chinese cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and star anise. This mix results in a unique spice blend that is sweet, savory, and spicy.

Although often associated with pork, Chinese Five Spice also pairs well with chicken and beef.

Collage showing how to chop the bok choy.

What is bok choy?

Bok choy is a Chinese cabbage with a whitish green stem with a crunch similar to celery and smooth green leafs. Baby bok choy is what it sounds like, a smaller version the full grown bok choy.

Collage of spices in the instant pot and then the instant pot filled with the rest of the soup ingredients.

Where to find Shiitake mushrooms?

Shiitake mushrooms are widely available at most major supermarkets in the Asian food section. They come dried in a small bag and can be re-hydrated before use or, as is done in this recipe, used dry and then sliced later.

If you are unable to locate them in your local grocery store shiitake mushrooms are available on Amazon.

Collage of the uncooked pork cut up and then straining the soup to remove the mushrooms and ginger and garlic.

To make the pork soup in the instant pot:

  1. Add all of the spices, garlic, ginger, mushrooms and the liquid ingredients into the Instant Pot insert. Add cut up pork and add to pot. Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.
  2. Release pressure and remove lid. Use a strainer to remove the ginger, garlic, and shiitake mushrooms. Discard ginger and garlic and slice mushrooms. Return mushrooms to pot.
  3. Add bok choy and cook on high pressure for 1 minute. Again release pressure and remove lid. Add cooked fine egg noodles.

A bowl of chinese pork shoulder soup next to a spoon and green napkin

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Other Asian style recipes:

Cantonese Style Black Pepper Beef

Asian Style Pepper Steak

Slow Cooker Honey Glazed Chinese Chicken

Other soup recipes:

Quick Salsa Soup

Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tomato Soup

Pumpkin Soup

Instant Pot Chinese Pork Shoulder Soup

Instant Pot Chinese Pork Shoulder Soup

Instant Pot Chinese Pork Shoulder Soup made with baby bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, and egg noodles in a rich broth seasoned with Chinese Five Spice.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Asian
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 447kcal
Author: Jade Jones

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1 cup dark soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar packed
  • 2 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 5 cups chicken broth
  • 4 green onions chopped
  • 8 cloves garlic peeled
  • 2 inches fresh ginger unpeeled and sliced
  • 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
  • 3 lbs pork shoulder trimmed of large fat pieces
  • 1 lb baby bok choy bottom stem removed and chopped (about 6 baby bok choy)
  • 6 oz fine egg noodles

Instructions

  • In the Instant Pot insert, add all of the spices, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, chicken broth, green onions, garlic, and ginger slices.  Stir to combine.  
  • Cut pork shoulder into 1 inch cubes and add to the sauce in the Instant Pot insert.  Place lid on the Instant Pot, set valve to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.
  • About 5 minutes before Instant Pot is finished cooking, begin boiling water to cook the egg noodles.  Cook according to package directions.  Set aside.
  • When cooking is finished, release pressure.  Once pressure has released, remove the lid and use a strainer or a skimmer to remove the mushrooms, ginger, and garlic. Slice the mushrooms and return to the pot. Discard ginger and garlic and return remaining ingredients to pot.
  • Add the baby bok choy. Replace lid, set valve to sealing and cook on high for 1 minute. Again, when cooking is finished, release pressure. Once pressure has released, remove Instant Pot lid.  
  • Add egg noodles to soup. Allow to heat through. 

Notes

Nutrition

Calories: 447kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 3432mg | Potassium: 859mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 3510IU | Vitamin C: 51.7mg | Calcium: 157mg | Iron: 4.6mg
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5 Comments

  1. The recipe was easy to follow – but wow. 1 cup soy sauce 1tsp salt and soup stock made this super salty. Nextt time I’ll cut the salt in half at least. Use it on the pork prior to cutting and add more AZN veggies add the end. And use 2/3 cup of soy sauce plus some rice wine to sweeten instead of just brown sugar.

    Thanks for your efforts Jade.

    1. Hi Andrew! Thank you for your thoughtful comment. The amount of salt can vary depending on brands used. Other good swaps would be to use low sodium soy sauce and low sodium or no salt added broth. Rice wine would be a very nice addition to the broth. Happy eating!

  2. 5 stars
    I made this soup yesterday and it was amazing! My husband ate three bowls! We’ll be having this over and over again!

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