Kalua Pig & Cabbage

Kalua pig, or pork, literally meaning "to cook in an underground oven" or imu, sometimes misspelled as Kahlua (like the liqueur). One of the most famous and popular Hawaiian Luau food, almost ubiquitous when traveling around the Hawaiian islands, but so difficult to find here on the mainland. In fact, good Hawaiian food is hard to find in general.

I was looking back on some pictures from my most recent trip to the Big Island, and came upon some pictures I took of the Lau Lau's and Kalua Pig from one of my new island favorite: Kaaloa's Super Js. I remember how amazing the Lau Lau's and Kalua Pig & Cabbage were from there, how clear and warm the beaches and ocean was, and really wished I was back on the island. So this is an attempt at bringing home some of that island nostalgia.

Okay, enough ranting. On with the cooking. Because I don't have the luxury or the talent to make a proper imu or roast an entire pig, we're going to settle for slow cooker and a chunk of pork butt. I know, not the same, but it's the best I can do as a mainlander.

This recipe is actually very easy, surprisingly easy considering the end product. Trust me, you'll be amazed.



Ready? Okay. There are only 3 required ingredients for Kalua Pig. Yes. Just 3.

First, get some pork.

Really, get some fresh pork shoulder butt roast, about 5 lbs.

You can get it with or without bone. Mine had a piece of bone in it, which was really easy to remove at the end because all the meat literally falls off the bones. Like my mom and grandma always say: "meat is best around the bone", so bone it is.

If you want to get fancy, get some of those organic pork from Whole Foods or the like, but mine came from just your corner grocery store.

Choose a cut with a decent balance of fat and meat, but not too much fat. There's also generally a fat side and a meat side. The fat side sometimes is also the skin & fat side. You can leave the skin on or cut it off, it's up to you. I got mine with more meat and less fat. The reason will be obvious later on.

The other two required ingredients: Alaea sea salt, and liquid smoke.

If I have to pick, I would say Alaea sea salt, or Hawaiian red salt, is the most important ingredient. It's sea salt that has been mixed with red Hawaiian clay, supposedly rich in minerals, and according to my boyfriend, who eat a few grains of the salt plain, it's "smoother" than regular sea salt... I think he may be on to something there.

You can buy it from World Market for $5 and change. Or, you can order it from Amazon. I don't know if the brand actually matters, but this one I have is actually produced in Honolulu so at least it's got that level of legit.

Liquid smoke is to supplement and get a bit of smoky flavor that we'll be missing from lack of actual imu.

Rub both ingredients onto your pork nicely. Don't be afraid of getting your hands dirty

A good general rule is 3/4-1 teaspoon of coarse (medium grain) salt per pound of meat. I ended up using about 5 teaspoons for my 5 lbs of meet.

Liquid smoke is up to your discretion. Use more if you want more smokiness, less if you want less. I used only about 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke. You can use up to 3 teaspoons (equivalent of 1 tablespoon) of this stuff.

Optional ingredient: 5-6 cloves of garlic.

Slice the pork roughly down the center horizontally (or transversely, to be technical), leaving it connected at one end. Stuff some garlic cloves there and then put the pork back together again. You're basically sandwiching garlic in your meat.

Do this if you like garlic. Use a ratio is about 1 clove per pound of meat.

Even if you don't like garlic and don't plan to do this, I still recommend cutting the meat down the middle to rub your salt and liquid smoke there. This way you're letting the flavor a better chance at really getting into the meat.

Optional ingredient 2: smoked bacon.

Yes, pork on pork action. For some extra smoke and flavor, line the bottom of your slow cooker with 3 slices of thick cut smoked bacon.

And that's it. That's all your ingredients.

Put your seasoned pork butt into your slow cooker, fat-side up. Now you have a fat layer on the bottom from the bacon, and a fat layer on top from the pork butt itself... perfect for sealing in the flavors.

DON'T add any oil or water!!!

Also, make sure your pork fits in your slow cooker... mine almost didn't. Ooops. At least 5 quarts, preferably bigger, is recommended, for 5 lbs of meat.

Cover, cook it on Low setting for 16-20 hrs until the pig kaluas itself.

This is what it looked like after ~17 hours. There may be a good amount of liquid at this point. Don't freak out. It's a combination of liquefied fat, and delicious natural juices flavored from the few simple ingredients.

I skimmed off some of the top layer fat/oil to make it slightly healthier (but really who am I kidding?).

Now, you can either just take the pork out to shred it, good luck getting it out in one piece because it's really tender, or you can leave it in the cooker and shred it right in there.

It's ready to eat at this point, you can serve it however you want to.

Or, you can take the next steps and get: Kalua Pig & Cabbage.

I roughly shredded mine in the cooker, then tossed in one head of sliced cabbage. Mixed it well, make sure the cabbage is cooking in the juices.

Optional: toss in some fresh crushed garlic cloves with the cabbage.

Did I mention we like garlic here?

Cover and let it cook on High setting for another 30 min.

After that you're really done. Here it is, Kalua Pig & Cabbage. Tender, savory, juicy, a bit of fresh and crisp from the cabbage, enough food for a proper feast, and guaranteed to be popular with your residency program. ;) Enjoy.

I like to eat mine with some rice and what's essentially a pico de gallo salsa, with a slightly Hawaiian twist. I remember having something like this so this was my attempt to capture that...

Kaula Pig & Cabbage:
(estimated ingredient list, because you know, I don't measure)

Kalua Pig

Pork shoulder butt roast, 5 lbs

Alaea Hawaiian Sea Salt, 4-5 teaspoons coarse salt

Liquid smoke, 1-3 teaspoons, to taste

(Optional) Garlic gloves, 5-6 whole

(Optional) Thick cut smoked bacon, 3 slices

With Cabbage

Cabbage, 1 head, sliced

(Optional) Garlic cloves, 3-5 crushed