Instant Pot Chicken, Oyster, and Napa Cabbage Soup

Chicken and oyster? Yeah. It’s surprisingly good. Plus it’s easy to make in your Instant Pot.

My mom is a wizard in the kitchen. She's able to whip up ridiculously tasty homemade meals from just a handful of ingredients. Simplicity is the key to her cooking—a principle of Shanghainese cuisine. One of my favorite dishes of hers is a beef short rib and napa cabbage soup. It’s light, full of umami, and hits the spot every time when it gets chilly. In my version, I decided to use whole rotisserie-style chicken and oysters. I’ve made this soup at least a dozen times now and have perfected it to just the way that I like it.

Selecting the Right Oyster for the Soup

I've discovered that the oyster you choose for the soup really matters in this case—it either makes it or breaks this soup! I had great success using White Stone oysters (VA), Orchard Point oysters (MD), and Louisiana oysters (LA). The best oysters for this soup will have low salinity, low minerality, a clean finish and a firm texture. Do not attempt to use large, creamy or mineral-forward Pacific oysters from the Pacific Northwest as it completely clashes with the delicate nature of the broth. A smaller Pacific oyster such as a Pai Pai (MX) or Kumamoto (WA) might work. I haven’t tried those yet. If you do, let me know how it goes.

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Instant Pot Chicken, Oyster, and Napa Cabbage Soup

Yield: 6-8

Author: Julie Qiu

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 2 H & 30 MInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 3 H & 45 M

A light, umami-rich soup made of tender chicken, aromatic shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, and sweet oysters will totally hit the spot on a chilly day.

Ingredients

• 4lb whole chicken (fresh or thawed, if frozen)
• 1/4 cup Beautiful Briny Sea Campfire Salt or rotisserie chicken seasoning
• 1 lemon, cut thick slices
• 1 sweet onion, quartered
• 1 Tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine or dry sherry
• 1/2 head of Napa cabbage, remove base, chopped width-wise into 3-inch strips
• 12 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in hot water and sliced
• 2-inch piece of ginger, sliced thick
• 1 star anise
• 8 cups unsalted chicken broth
• 1 dozen mild salinity, sweet, plump Atlantic oysters
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Prep the Chicken

1. Remove giblets, if any, from the chicken. Rub the rotisserie seasoning or Campfire Salt over the entire bird.
2. Let it sit for at least 1 hour, or overnight in the refrigerator (if you have the time/patience).

Pressure Cook the Chicken

1. Stuff the chicken cavity with the lemon slices and onion. Place the chicken on a metal trivet inside the Instant Pot or pressure cooker of your choice (use 6 qt or larger).
2. Add 1 cup of water (or 2 cups if your Instant Pot is 8 qt or larger) and the Shaoxing cooking wine.
3. Pressure Cook on High Pressure. To calculate the amount of time to cook, multiply the weight of the chicken by 6 minutes. For example, a 4lb chicken needs 24 minutes (4 x 6) to cook. A 3.5lb chicken needs 21 minutes to cook.
4. Once the time is up, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes is up, rapid release the remaining pressure. Carefully open the lid and remove the chicken.
5. Place the chicken on a plate or rimmed cutting board. Start removing the meat from the bones using tongs. It should easily fall off. Cut the chicken breast into bite size shreds. Keeping the skin or discarding it is up to you. I personally just keep it in the soup for added flavor, as I don’t mind the texture or fat, but you may want to discard it.
6. Try your best not to eat the chicken right then and there (I usually steal a drumstick around this point). Use the remaining bones to make chicken stock or discard.

Make the Soup

1. Leave the chicken drippings and remaining liquid in the pressure cooker.
2. Add the Napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, chicken meat, ginger, and star anise to the pot.
3. Pour the chicken broth over the ingredients until everything is covered.
4. Set the Instant Pot to Slow Cook on Medium Heat for 2 hours. Make sure that the pressure valve is pressed down so that the pressure releases while cooking.
5. After 1.5 hours of slow cooking, shuck a dozen oysters and reserve the meat and oyster liqueur in a bowl. Remove all shell bits.
6. Add oysters and its liqueur to the surface of the soup and let simmer for another 20 minutes.
7. Find and fish out the ginger and anise. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Notes:

I've discovered that the oyster you choose for the soup really matters in this case—it either makes it or breaks this soup! I had great success using White Stone oysters (VA), Orchard Point oysters (MD), and Louisiana oysters (LA). The best oysters for this soup will have low salinity, low minerality, a clean finish and a firm texture. Do not attempt to use large, creamy or mineral-forward Pacific oysters from the Pacific Northwest as it completely clashes with the delicate nature of the broth. A smaller Pacific oyster such as a Pai Pai (MX) or Kumamoto (WA) might work. I haven’t tried those yet. If you do, let me know how it goes.

https://www.inahalfshell.com/journal/instant-pot-chicken-oyster-napa-cabbage-soup

chicken soup, oyster soup, napa cabbage, chicken and oyster soup

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