Instant Pot: Beef Shank Noodle Soup

I ordered beef shank online from an Asian grocery store and received a 2 pound boneless hunk of meat.  It wasn't the "osso bucco" I dreamed of and was planning to make so I thought I'd try a soup in the instant pot.  I also bought new ramen bowls from Japan so I was very happy to try noodle soup in them!  This was my creation and it was made with all I had in the fridge/pantry:

• 2 lb boneless beef shank
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 227 grams cremini mushrooms, rubbed clean & sliced
• 1 leek, washed and sliced
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 8 cups organic low-sodium "Better than Bouillon" vegetable stock
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon organic sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup dried orange peel, diced
• 1 inch nub of ginger, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup shaoxing wine
• Air-dried wide ramen noodles (I meant to buy "not-wide", haha)
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
• Green onions, sliced, for garnish
• Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, for garnish
• Crispy fried red onions, for garnish
• Chili oil, for garnish, to taste
• Lime wedges, for garnish

I set the instant pot to sauté and splashed a little grapeseed oil in.  I added the onion, garlic, leek, carrots, celery, mushrooms and ginger and stirred until soft.  I added in the wine, deglazing the pan followed by the tomatoes, seasonings and sugar and broth.  

When combined well I laid the beef in which I had seasoned with S&P.  It fell into the liquid with a plop and splash, lol.  I turned the sauté function off.  I sealed the lid.  I set it to manual on high for 60 minutes. 

I let it natural release for 20 minutes, then vented until the pin dropped.  If time had permitted I would have let it natural release the whole time.  I took the beef out and trimmed off visible fat.  I let it rest while I checked the soup for seasoning.  I put lots of S&P in.  I put it back on sauté while I boiled the noodles.    I took out the bay leaves, star anise and cinnamon stick.  

I put the drained noodles in bowls and put some sliced beef on top of them.

I ladled the broth over top.  I garnished with the green onions, cilantro and red onions.  I drizzled chili oil over the top and tucked a couple of lime wedges on the side of the bowl.  Dinner is served!

First bites and sips were not amazing and we both thought the broth was bland.  The beef was tough where it was sinewy as well.  Thankfully that was only in a couple of pieces.  When everything was mixed up the broth came to life and had a developed flavor that satisfied.  I wouldn't buy that shank in this form again and would just stick with chuck/blade roast next time.  This as a whole was palatable but not mmmm mmmm good.  It will need some serious tweaking and self-editing before I attempt it again...