Since returning from our honeymoon in Hawaii, Miss Piggy and I have often discussed attempting a recreation of the traditional Hawaiian Kalua Pork. I had done some research on the inter-web about recipes but having a team mate at work with Hawaiian family, I opted to follow her advice (and her Mum's recipe) so a big thanks to "The Peanut Gallery".
Now since I know that the President of the body corporate of our unit block would not allow me to dig a pit in the back yard I was glad that the recipe I was given was for the oven, but I was also given some options to use a slow cooker. Since we had just bought a slow cooker it was decided that we should give it a whirl at something other than soup....
Now the cooking instruction is fairly simple:
1) marinate pork for as long as possible - preferably overnight.
2) wrap meat in banana leaves - aluminium foil works just as well.
3) cook for 6 - 7 hours
4) shred meat
5) serve
See, simple.
Step 1, the marinade: Now the traditional Kalua Pork has a lovely smoky flavour that comes from the wood fire that it is cooked in. In the non traditional method the smokiness comes from the addition of "Liquid Smoke" to the marinade. This is mixed with rock salt, soy sauce and minced garlic and rubbed into the roast.
I opted for a shoulder roast from Coles - again thanks to the Peanut Gallery for her recommendations on the cut to use. I added a few cuts to the meat to help the flavour work its way in. In to the fridge it goes overnight.
Step 2, nice and easy: Place the roast on aluminium foil, pour the excess marinade over the roast and seal it up in the foil. It helps if you start to wrap before you pour otherwise it gets messy.
Step 3, Shred: I had absolutely no idea what I was doing here. I quickly figured out that you can use a pair of tongs and a fork to quite efficiently pull apart the meat and turn it into stringy bits of yummyness. sampling at this point is encouraged.
Step 4, Eat: Pretty self explanatory this step. If you do need some assistance we opted for steamed cabbage and rice, very Hawaiian.
BTW: I got a big thumbs up from "The Peanut Gallery" at work, I think a comment like "That's beter than my Mum's" is pretty good.....
For the record the recipe is as follows:
1 x 1/2 Tblspn rock salt
3 x Tblspn soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 x Tblspn liquid smoke
1 Pork shoulder roast
- mix all ingredients in a small bowl
- rub pork with the mixture and leave for as long as possible (I left mine overnight)
- leave any fat on durring the cooking process as this will add to the flavour
- wrap pork in foil (you can use banana leaves for this if you have them lying around) ensuring that it is completely sealed up to allow the pork to steam in its own juices.
- place in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours (check it after about 6
Enjoy.
