Melissa Clark’s Pressure Cooker Spicy Pork Shoulder is amazing and something I’ve made several times, to the letter. This is a faster/cheaper/lighter version with chicken legs that’s as good as the original
Korean Pulled Chicken

adapted from Melissa Clark’s Pressure Cooker Spicy Pork Shoulder

chicken

Ingredients

Chicken + Dry Rub

  • 4 lb chicken legs/thighs/drumsticks
  • 2-4 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp gochugaru chili flakes1
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar

Korean BBQ Sauce

  • 2 tbsp peanut oil
  • 1 inch ginger cube
  • 1-2 garlic cloves
  • 1/3 cup gochujang chili paste
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Prep Chicken

Press/mince garlic and mix with the salt, brown sugar, and gochugaru, to form a paste. Remove skin from chicken and mix well with the paste in a large bowl. Cover and move to fridge for up to 24 hours

Pressure Cook + Shred

Add chicken and 1 cup water to Instant Pot and pressure-cook for 15 minutes, with 10-minute natural release2. Move chicken to cutting board to cool, and keep the juices in the Instant Pot or save some off for the later steps

Coarsely shred chicken with hands or forks when it’s cooled off. It will shred itself more in the later steps, goal here is to break up big pieces

BBQ Sauce

While the chicken is cooking, make the BBQ sauce by heating garlic and ginger in the peanut oil until fragrant. Then, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The gochujang dries out over time so use a spatula or whisk to break it up and evenly distribute

Simmer until the sauce thickens enough to coat the spatula and drop off in chunks

Glaze + Broil

Set oven to broil with a rack 2nd from the top. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil

Move shredded chicken to bowl and add half the BBQ sauce and a few spoonfuls of the chicken juices. Mix well. Add more BBQ sauce if desired

Spread chicken out on foil-lined sheet pan and add a few more spoonfuls of the chicken juices

Broil for 3-5 minutes to start, then remove sheet pan from the oven and flip the chicken. Repeat this for a few rounds, setting shorter timers as you go, until the chicken is how you want it. I keep going until chicken is crispy and blackened in parts. Top with more BBQ sauce if desired

Leave in warm oven until ready to serve

Notes

  1. Gochugaru usually comes in a bag that’s larger than you’d like. Keep it in your freezer and it’ll keep for years
  2. Cooking the chicken => crock pot or roasting in an oven work as well, if you don’t have a pressure cooker. Just ensure chicken is well-cooked to 185° or higher, as the connective tissues melt at 175°. If you stop at 165°, the chicken will be tough
  3. Make-Ahead => the sauce can be made ahead of time. The chicken could be cooked ahead of time as well. Leftovers freeze well too. Very make-ahead friendly