There are tons of kalua pork recipes all over the internet, and now here’s one more. Granted, this is not the real deal, as it’s not cooked underground with fire, but the banana leaves do add a rich, flavor. You could also add a touch of liquid smoke, if you want, to give it a little added smoke flavor.
With all that said, it’s a good and simple recipe, but it does take a long time to cook, though it’s unsupervised time.
I was a bit skeptical of this turning out well, but I was pleasantly surprised. While many of these recipes call for shredding the pork after cooking, I opted to just slice it, which, to me, seemed a much better option. Shredded meat is like eating pre-chewed food.
The slow cooking and fattiness of the pork will result in a lot of meat drippings, which would be great for making a gravy to accompany the pork. Yeah, it’s not traditionally served with gravy, but it would sure be good.
What you’ll need
- 5 lb. pork butt roast
- About 2T Hawaiian sea salt (I used freshly ground Himalayan salt. Not authentic, but it least it started with an “H”).
- A few drops of liquid smoke, optional
- Two large pieces of banana leaves—large enough to wrap the roast
- Enough aluminum foil to triple-wrap the pork—heavy-duty foil works best
What to do
Begin heating your oven to 300 degrees F. This next part is optional: Add a teaspoon of liquid smoke to a small bowl and brush it evenly over the roast. Next, evenly sprinkle the salt over the pork, sides and ends, too. Configure the two banana leaves so you can wrap the entire roast with them, then wrap the roast over the banana leaves with three layers of aluminum foil.
Place the wrapped pork in a roasting pan (with or without a grate) and let the roast cook for about 6 hours. Adjust the cooking time if your roast is larger or smaller than 5 pounds.
When the pork is fully cooked, remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes before unwrapping it. Shred or slice it at your discretion. With that said, the sliced pieces make outstanding pork sandwiches.
Enjoy!
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