In the past I have had trouble cooking a larger portion of short ribs into the pressure cooker without ending up with an excessive amount of braising liquid. Some might wonder what exactly is an excessive amount of braising liquid? When there is too much liquid in the pressure cooker before we begin, we end up diluting both the broth and the flavor of the meat being cooked. Sure, we can reduce the broth afterwards, but that is a waste of time, energy and flavor. Reducing liquids both concentrate flavor and changes it; and not always for the better.
Aki took the reigns on our short rib issue because she was tired of me "messing them up" again and again. Instead of packing the meat into the pot, she stood the ribs upright and then filled in the voids with aromatics. Finally she poured a blend of red wine and soy sauce about a quarter of the way up the ribs. I kept telling her that there was no way we were going to have enough liquid to properly cook the ribs but she tuned me out. (She's good at that.) When the meat was finished cooking (45 minutes at high pressure)and the pressure had dissipated naturally, the tender ribs were resting in there well seasoned liquid with a fine layer of fat on top. Aki just smiled as I happily acknowledged her success. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith, or in this case, have someone else do it for you.
