I would often tell my husband about our neighbors in Miami who would dig a pit in the backyard and roast an entire pig. Imagine my surprise when I learned they do something very similar in Hawaii, where my sister-in-law and my good friend from college come from! (Hi Anneke! Hi Liz!) If I started digging a huge pit behind my apartment with a huge pig carcass, the cops would surely haul me away, so the next best thing, according to Pineapple and Coconut’s Hawaiian Style Kalua Pork Recipe is a slow cooker and some liquid smoke.
I once watched Alton Brown make liquid smoke from scratch. About 10 hours and a billion dollars later, he had about a half teaspoon of liquid smoke. I decided right then that I was fine buying liquid smoke from the grocery store.
You can get the pink alaea sea salt from Cost Plus World Market or Whole Foods if you are on the mainland. I assume you can find it everywhere in Hawaii. If you can’t find it, coarse sea salt will also work.
You’ll need
- 4 lbs Pork Shoulder
- 1 tbsp Liquid Smoke, Hickory flavor (mesquite flavor is also okay)
- 1 tbsp Alaea sea salt or coarse sea salt
Pierce the pork all over with a fork so the flavor gets deep inside the meat and salt it with the Alaea sea salt.
Pour half an tablespoon of liquid smoke into the crockpot.
Place your salted pork into the crockpot.
Pour the remaining half a tablespoon of liquid smoke over the top of the pork.
Cook on low for 6 hours. My whole apartment smelled like the most delicious bacon.
Using two forks, shred the pork into large chunks right there inside of your crockpot so the meat gets coated in the gravy.
Serve.
Unless you have a big family, 4 pounds of shredded pork can seem like a lot of meat to have kicking around the house. Luckily, there are a ton of ways you can use it. First, it’s perfectly fine to freeze a portion of it in a freezer-safe ziploc bag once it has cooled down. Make sure to put a little of the cooking liquid into the bag with the pork, so that when you reheat it (in a crockpot or in the oven), it will not dry out. Second, you can top it with coleslaw or pickled red cabbage and turn it into a sandwich. Third, mix up a few eggs, some pickled jalapenos, cheddar cheese, and some pork and heat in a skillet until cooked through to make a nice breakfast frittata. The list is endless!
- 4 lbs Pork Shoulder
- 1 tbsp Liquid Smoke, Hickory flavor (mesquite flavor is also okay)
- 1 tbsp Alaea sea salt or coarse sea salt
- Pierce the pork all over with a fork so the flavor gets deep inside the meat.
- Salt it with the Alaea sea salt.
- Pour half an tablespoon of liquid smoke into the crockpot.
- Place your salted pork into the crockpot.
- Pour the remaining half a tablespoon of liquid smoke over the top of the pork.
- Cook on low for 6 hours.
- Using two forks, shred the pork into large chunks right there inside of your crockpot so the meat gets coated in the gravy.
- Serve.
Another great recipe I need to try.
Thanks!! 🙂
I’m going to have to look for that salt the next time I’m at World Market–That pork looks SO good…I bet it’d be great with some grilled or carmelized pineapple on the side….Yum!
Hey Rachel! That sounds awesome!! 🙂
Oh wow. That looks INCREDIBLE. I am definitely going to have to try it since it’s so easy. And can I tell you I made your french onion deviled eggs on Sunday? Gone within seconds. All by me. So good. 🙂
Woo hoo!! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Have you thought about wrapping the pork in banana leaves when you make the kalua pig? That’s the authentic Hawaiian way. That’s as close to the real thing as you can get without cooking a whole pig on the beach in Hawaii. I have lived in California as an adult but Hawaii as a child, and there’s nothing quite like it. I learned to eat spinach because at school on Thursdays they served kalua pig, spinach and poi. I hated spinach before then, but the juice from the kalua pig made it taste wonderful. Sweet potatoes are the best with it, because they cook them in the imu as well.
Sam Choy, who’s a Michelin star Hawaiian chef , cooks it in the regular oven (4 shoulders at a time!), but with the same seasonings you and I use – but even lower and slower. I forget how long he said it took to cook it this way, but I make it like you do and it tastes like the home of my childhood.
That sounds amazing, Paula!! I think there is an Asian market where I might be able to get my hands on banana leaves. You have me dreaming about lining the bottom of the pot with chopped spinach and onions and sweet potatoes. Oh man! 😀