Kalua pork is a favorite Hawaiian dish that my family loves; however, the traditional way is to wrap the pork in banana leaves and roast a whole pig in an underground pit. My version is very delicious, smoky, and much easier to prepare at home. Here’s how to make it:
Start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. Next, take a 10 lb. pork shoulder roast and using a large long tined fork, poke holes all over the roast on both sides.
Pour liquid smoke (hickory preferably), all over the roast and rub it in to the meat.
Sprinkle the whole roast all over with red Hawaiian sea salt if you can find it. If you cannot find Hawaiian red salt, you can use pink Himalayan or regular coarse sea salt. Place the roast in a cast iron Dutch oven fat side up and cover the roast with banana leaves (found in Asian markets). or use organic washed green banana peels, about 3-4 bananas. Discard the green bananas. The banana leaves or peels impart an earthy flavor to the pork as it roasts.
Pour in enough water to come up half way on the roast, add 1 Tbl. of liquid smoke to the water, cover with a tight fitting lid and place in 325-degree oven for 4-5 hours until very tender.
When roast is done and very tender, remove from the oven and discard the banana peels or leaves and shred or slice the pork.
Serve pork with your favorite BBQ sauce or in this case I used a pineapple based BBQ sauce. Garnish with chopped scallions and serve with your favorite sides. For this meal there was sautéed bok choy and mashed ginger sweet potatoes. Enjoy and happy cooking!
Prep Time: 15 min.
Cooking Time: 4-5 hours
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 6-8
Ingredients:
1 10 lb. Pork Shoulder
3.5 bottle of hickory flavored liquid smoke
2-3 Tbl. Red Hawaiian sea salt or Pink Himalayan sea salt
3-4 Green organic bananas (use washed peels only)
1 bunch chopped scallions for garnish (optional)
Pineapple based BBQ sauce or your favorite BBQ sauce