Cooking And Coping: Making Instant Pot Magic Pork With Michelle Tam In Palo Alto, CA

Cooking And Coping is a series by @HungryEditor profiling people on what they are cooking and how they are coping in this world of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michelle Tam is a Palo Alto, California based author of two New York Times bestselling cookbooks and the founder of Nom Nom Paleo, a food blog which won an award from Saveur. Along with her husband, Henry Fong, she has produced a Webby award winning cooking app and she was even nominated for a James Beard Award. If that wasn’t enough, Tam also has a degree in nutrition and food science from the University of California at Berkeley as well as a doctorate in pharmacy from UCSF. Tam worked for over 12 years as a pharmacist at Stanford Hospital and Clinics before focusing her attention on Nom Nom Paleo full-time. You can follow her on Instagram: @nomnompaleo.

Benjamin Liong Setiawan: What recipe are you loving right now?

Michelle Tam: Instant Pot Magic Pork!

Instant Pot Magic Pork 

4 pounds Pork Shoulder, cut into 1½-inch cubes

2½ teaspoons Magic Mushroom Powder or Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt + one of the optional umami boosters listed below

1 tablespoon Ghee, Extra Virgin Olive oil, Avocado Oil, or cooking fat of choice

1 medium Yellow Onion, thinly sliced

6 Garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

½ cup Orange Juice (you can also use Pineapple Juice or Chicken Broth)

2 dried Shiitake Mushrooms and/or Red Boat Fish Sauce (optional umami boosters)

1. Cut up the pork shoulder and toss the cubed pork shoulder with Magic Mushroom Powder. No MMP? Just use the same amount of Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or half the amount of Morton’s kosher salt or a fine grain salt).
2. Grab your Instant Pot and turn on the sauté function. When the metal insert is hot, add ghee or your preferred cooking fat. Toss in the sliced onions.
3. Stir fry until the onions are no longer crunchy (about 2-3 minutes). Dump in the smashed garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the orange juice and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
4. Add the seasoned pork to the Instant Pot and stir to mix well. (If you aren’t using MMP and want to amp up the umami, you can toss in a couple of dried mushrooms or add a few shakes of Red Boat Fish Sauce. Even if you are using MMP, these additions will make your stew AMAZING!)
5. Lock the lid and cancel the sauté function. Program your Instant Pot to cook under high pressure for 35 minutes. When the pork is finished cooking, wait for the pressure to release naturally.
6. Check that the pork is fork tender and adjust seasoning if necessary with extra Magic Mushroom Powder or salt. Ladle it up and shred it up with a couple forks. Dig in and thank yourself for tasty leftovers!

Nom Nom Paleo®Instant Pot Magic Pork – Nom Nom Paleo®

Setiawan: How did you come across this recipe? 

Tam: It’s mine! I created this Instant Pot recipe as a simple and easy way to transform a cheap cut of meat (pork shoulder) and a few pantry ingredients into a flavorful pile of tender shredded pork. It’s seasoned with my Magic Mushroom Powder—a flavor-booster that umami-fies everything it touches.

Setiawan: What do you love about this recipe?

Tam: It’s a great bang-for-your-buck type of recipe. It only takes a few minutes to toss all the ingredients into an Instant Pot, and the result is something magically delicious. All that’s left to do is to whip up a quick salad or roast a tray of broccoli, and dinner is set. Plus, leftovers freeze well and can be tossed into frittatas, soups, scrambles, and stir-fries. I can even crisp up the leftover meat and can create homemade carnitas in a snap!

Setiawan: Any special memories connected to this recipe?

Tam: Not really! It’s just one of my back pocket recipes that make cooking and feeding my family simpler during these messy, chaotic times.

Setiawan: Once people are able to meet up IRL again, who is the first person you want to make this recipe for?

Tam: Nobody! As soon as we’re allowed to see folks again, I want to take my parents, sister, and in-laws out to a fabulous dinner at one of my favorite restaurants—and my fingers are crossed that the food industry will rebound when all of this is over. 

Setiawan: What are some ways you’re coping with spending more time indoors and social distancing?

Tam: I’m sheltering in place with my husband and two sons (ages 12 and 15). After several weeks of very little structure, we realized that we had to institute some new family rules to get work done and stay sane. We now have our separate areas around the house to get school work and our jobs done. Also, there is a new tag team approach to house cleaning, cooking meals, and laundry. If we all chip in, the endless piles of clean laundry are folded and put away in a fraction of the time!

Setiawan: What are you doing to stay sane?

Tam: The biggest way I’m staying sane is watching fun and distracting TV on Bravo or Netflix in the evening with the boys. We loved watching Tiger King and are now eagerly awaiting each new episode of Top Chef.

Setiawan: What are you doing to stay creative?

Tam: It’s been fun creating new recipes and shooting off-the-cuff Instagram cooking videos with items from my fridge and pantry. I’ve always wanted to be better about curbing food waste, so I’ve been doing my best to show folks how to make leftover makeovers exciting and delicious.

Setiawan: What are you doing to stay connected?

Tam: Like everyone else, I’m using FaceTime and Zoom to stay in touch with friends and family. In fact, I video chat with my parents and in-laws daily—which is way more than I used to before we started sheltering at home. In terms of staying connected to the latest updates around the world, I’m regularly doom-surfing news sites and Twitter.

Setiawan: What gives you hope?

Tam: On a neighborhood level, everyone is reaching out to support each other. My neighbors on Nextdoor are no longer complaining about people leaving their garbage cans out on the curb and are instead mobilizing to help each other shop for groceries, pick up medication, or deliver meals. It’s amazing to see how our communities band together in a crisis.

Setiawan: What are you learning from all of this?

Tam: I’ve learned that good enough is good enough, and to let things slide. It’s not worth sweating the small stuff when there are so many people who have been devastated by this pandemic. This has been a lesson in gratitude, too—I’m definitely grateful that I’m lucky to be able to hunker down at home with my family during this time. For years, I worked in the ICU as a hospital pharmacist, and I am incredibly thankful to all my former colleagues and other frontline healthcare workers who are doing everything they can to combat this crisis.

Setiawan: What changes do you hope to see in the future?

Tam: I hope people will listen to the experts and follow the science for practical advice instead of blindly parroting politicians or pundits.

Setiawan: What rhythms are you implementing during this time? 

Tam: For the most part, our family is trying to stick to our regular routine—except our wake-up time is several hours later than it used to be. Dinner together as a family has always been a norm, but during this period, all of our meals have become opportunities to check in and connect with each other. Also, now that we’re in our fifth week of sheltering in place, I’m finally ready to pick up my exercise regimen again. Reluctantly. 

Setiawan: What projects are you working on? 

Tam: I’m slowly creating and updating recipes on our blog and iOS app, but pivoting to share healthy recipes that people can make with pantry staples and leftovers. My husband and I are also working on our third cookbook, but the deadline for that is more flexible.

Setiawan: What has been the most surprising?

Tam: My conscious brain keeps telling me that everything will (eventually) be okay. I feel like that cartoon dog in the meme, drinking his coffee and saying “this is fine” while everything is burning around him. But I’ve been surprised to discover that my subconscious brain is much more of a pessimist. I’ve been waking my husband several times a week by screaming in my sleep.

Setiawan: What has been the most inspiring?

Tam: Definitely my former co-workers at the local hospital who report day in and day out to help folks in need, despite the risks and uncertainties.