# Hawaiian Hog



## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

Okay, I can't even pretend to call this Kalua Pork, it's just too far off the traditional recipe.
So going forward I'm just gonna call it Hawaiian Hog.

*Kalua Pork*
If you go to a luau in Hawaii you're going to see pork one of two ways, whole pig or pig parts wrapped in banana and/or Ti leaves and sometimes burlap and cooked in a covered rock lined pit with hardwood coals, 
Kiawe is the commonly used wood, us mainland haoles know it as Mesquite.

Traditionally it is simply seasoned with Alaea salt, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an earthen pit.
The pit may or may not be lined with rock, it is airtight or almost so and thus the smoke flavor is infused into the meat and it is pretty strong.

Digging a pit in the Wife's backyard poses a problem, so that leaves the oven, slow cooker or smoker.
In researching recipes I found many ways to marinate and spice it from half a dozen sources, including some folks I know who live in a Hawaii.
The most agreed upon traditional recipes all call for three primary ingredients, Alaea salt, liquid smoke and banana leaves.
Everything else is individual preference, marinating or not, fruit or veggies and other spices.

This is my second go at this recipe, first time I thought it lacked enough pineapple and ginger so this time added more.
I had two 4lb bone-in butts that I made a marinade for,
*Marinade*
5c Orange juice
2 20oz cans diced pineapple in pineapple juice
1c minced ginger
2T minced garlic
1/2c Soy sauce
1/2c Ponzu sauce
1/8c Fish sauce
1/8c liquid smoke
4T Alaea salt, Hawaiian red clay salt

Marinated overnight, remove from the marinade and lightly salted the pork.
Strain the fruit and veggies from the marinade and include them with the pork.
Then either wrap in multiple layers of banana leaves and truss, or line a slow cooker or dutch oven with layered banana leaves, wrap and cover.
Fire up the smoke with a 60/40 mix of mesquite and hickory.
This is one time where I want a heavier smoke, not thin blue smoke.
Because the meat is well protected by the leaves it can take the heavy smoke, it really needs it and the liquid smoke to get that intensely smokey flavor.

Example of wrapped and trussed.










In a dutch oven.










Here are pics from today's cook.

*Marinade*









*Lining the Dutch Oven*









*Ready to Wrap*









*Done Cooking*


















*Super Tender Hawaiian Hog*





*Dinner is Served*


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## kahala boy (Oct 1, 2007)

How did it taste? Looks good. I will give you my recipe to try if you'd like. PM me if you want to try it.


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## smooth move (Sep 25, 2012)

when i was over there the locals were using a huli huli sauce on their bbq. it was pretty good stuff. there were about a thousand different recipies for it though. plenty hogs to play with on the islands too. as usual, your stuff looks awful good.


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## DLo (Oct 2, 2007)

Looks amazing...as usual


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

kahala boy said:


> How did it taste? Looks good. I will give you my recipe to try if you'd like. PM me if you want to try it.


It taste great, everybody shut-up for a good 10+ minutes and concentrated on stuffing their faces.
The lack of dinner table chatter usually says a lot about a meal.

Always looking for tasty recipes, would like to try yours, PM sent, thanks.


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