Fennel seed finesses Instant Pot Pork and Cabbage Stew

Pork, cabbage and potatoes create a hearty, peasanty stew; fennel seed subtly elevates it. Recipe below.

IT IS NOW DAY WHATEVER IN THE SHUTDOWN, and we are still self-isolating. I said three weeks ago that we hadn’t been inside any building that is not our house for some time. That remains true. We also have not eaten anything that was not cooked by one of us. I’m happy to report that we are okay with that.

As much as we miss occasionally going out for drinks and dinner—or grabbing takeout when life is a little too busy—we’re enjoying cooking, and thinking about it more carefully. Planning meals based on what we have on hand. Cooking favorite comfort dishes and exploring new ones.

This dish came out of a mashup of all that. I had a pound of pork stew meat, an early purchase from when we were getting our online shopping/food delivery sea legs. And when Marion said four weeks ago that she was hoarding cabbage, she wasn’t kidding. Potatoes seemed a good fit for this dish, as did onion and garlic.

The fennel seed came from some half-buried memory of a cabbage stew in a restaurant long ago. And it is what elevates this simple, peasanty stew. Fennel is a plant that generously serves kitchens and cooks. We’ve cooked with the big, crunchy bulb many times here. The feathery fronds often finish dishes beautifully. And fennel seeds add a slightly sweet, slightly licorice-flavored note to dishes.

The Instant Pot made everything come together quickly at the end of a busy work-from-home day, but this could also have been done as a Dutch oven slow braise. And since this is day whatever and we’re all cooking with what we’ve got or can easily get, this dish is open to substitutions and improvisations. Cooked as it is written here, it was comforting and more subtly flavored than you might imagine.

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Instant Pot Pork and Cabbage Stew

Pork, cabbage and potatoes create a hearty, peasanty stew; fennel seed subtly elevates it.

Course Main Course, Meat, Stew

Servings 2 (can be doubled)

Equipment

• Instant Pot

Ingredients

• 1 pound pork stew meat or pork shoulder cut into chunks
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more, if needed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 pound cabbage, sliced (see Kitchen Notes)
• 1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

Instructions

• Season pork generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Instant Pot on sauté and brown pork on all sides, working in batches. Transfer browned pork to a bowl.
• Add onion to pot, drizzling in a little more oil, if needed. Cook, stirring frequently, until just softened, maybe 2 minutes. Add garlic and fennel seeds to pot and cook, stirring constantly, for 45 seconds or so.
• Turn off the pot, add the broth and scrape up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Add the cabbage and potatoes to the pot. Season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine everything. Top with browned pork and any accumulated juices.
• Put Instant Pot lid in place, making sure valve is set to seal, and set to cook for 30 minutes.
• When the cycle is done and the Instant Pot shuts off, let it sit for 10 minutes, then using an oven mitt, carefully turn the steam release handle. When the float valve drops down, remove the lid.
• Stir gently to combine—the potatoes will be thoroughly cooked and tender—taste and adjust seasonings with salt as needed, then spoon into shallow bowls and serve.

Kitchen Notes

Cabbage prep. If you got a small cabbage, about 1 pound, peel off loose outside and halve it lengthwise. Core it and halve it again lengthwise, then slice it crosswise into 1/2- to 3/4-inch strips. I started with a larger cabbage, so half of it gave me the pound of cabbage I needed.