Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Kalua Pig

While we were in Hawaii, Jamie and I feel in love with Kalua pig. It's the Hawaiian version of pulled pork and it's great. They served it on nachos and on taro buns with BBQ sauce. Since I had the time, I made it last weekend and it was fab. I halved this recipe and it was still big enough for one dinner for three with BBQ sauce on a bun, one lunch for three in a grilled cheese, one dinner for two with nachos, and three lunches with BBQ sauce on a bun. So basically, it's a lot! It's totally worth it, though, because you can use it so many ways - and you'll save money on lunch for the week!

I made a pineapple barbecue sauce to go with it, but any BBQ sauce will work. I also served them on brioche buns instead of taro - it was great! The sweet, soft brioche bun was perfect with the rich pork and tart sauce. Yum yum yum.

Ingredients:
1 large banana leaf (I got these at Essex Street Market)
3 lb bonless pork shoulder, cut into 3 pieces
1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 1/4 tbsp liquid smoke
Directions:
Preheat oven to 500. Lay two sheets of tin foil (about 1 foot long) on a work surface with long sides overlapping by about 4 inches. Put the banana leaf over the tin foil and put the pork on the banana leaf. Sprinkle with salt and liquid smoke. 
Wrap the pork in the banana leaf.
Top with two more sheets of overlapping foil and make a really tight package around the pork with the foil. I then coverage with an addition layer of tin foil just to keep it extra sealed and juicy.
Put it in a roasting pan, fill the pan with 1 inch of water, and cover the roasting pan tightly with foil. Put in the oven and cook for 25 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350 and cook for 2 1/2 hours. 
When it's cool enough to handle but still warm, take off the foil and shred the pork with two forks. 
Serve warm.

Great on a brioche bun with some BBQ sauce!
Also, reheat with a little BBQ sauce and put on top of nachos - amazing!

This grilled cheese recipe is also fab.

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