Credit: Claire Lower
The Instant Pot is good for a lot of things, but I mostly use mine to cook large pieces of tough meats with lot of connective tissue. The device renders them fall-off-the bone tender but, since it’s a sealed cooking environment, this inevitably results in a good amount of flavorful, but quite thin, liquid in the bottom of the insert.
Reducing it down to a glaze is one route you could explore, but this takes a while, and I am not patient. Reducing also means intensifying flavors, which can translate to an overly salty or sweet sauce. But again, my main issue is how long it takes, especially when you can transform the cooking liquid into a luscious gravy with just two (2) ingredients.
Actually, there are two two-ingredient approaches here. You can make a cornstarch slurry (two parts cold water + one part cornstarch), or you can get all French and fancy and make a beurre manie, aka a “raw roux.” Though it sounds a little bougie, all you have to do is mash an equal amount of butter and flour together until you have a uniform paste. A tablespoon of each is usually enough to thicken up a recipe’s worth of jus, but I usually triple that amount and keep the excess in the fridge until it is needed.
If you are using a cornstarch slurry, bring the liquid to a simmer, drizzle in a bit of your starch mixture, and reduce the heat and stir. The sauce will thicken as it cools, so add a little bit at a time. (You can test it by spooning a little onto a cold plate and seeing how it sets.) If you are using a beurre manie, break off little chunks of the paste, drop them in, and stir to melt the butter. The flour will disperse evenly, transforming the watery liquid into something spoonable. You can add as little of as much as you like, making a thinnish sauce or viscous gravy to accompany your glorious piece of meat.
