In this video, learn how to make Chef John’s Kalua Pork with an easy-to-follow recipe! Using simple ingredients and slow-cooking techniques, you’ll achieve tender, flavorful pork that’s perfect for any occasion. Whether you’re hosting a luau or just craving some island-inspired cuisine, pulled pork recipe is a great choice!
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Kalua Pork. That's right, Kalua Pork
00:09means cooked underground, which is how we'd have to do it if we want the true authentic version.
00:14But I'm going to show you the other authentic version, which is used very successfully by
00:18Hawaiian home cooks to produce something truly amazing and incredibly similar.
00:24And to get started, what we'll need is a nice big pork shoulder roast,
00:28preferably one sold with the bone in. You can see right here, that's the shoulder blade.
00:34And what we'll do first, because we're not using a fire pit, is rub this with a generous splash
00:38of liquid smoke, which I know a lot of people aren't a fan of, and I'm not really either.
00:43But here, it really does work wonderfully. Where it doesn't work is where people try to
00:47add like half a cup to their barbecue sauce, and it's so overpowering and off-putting.
00:52But in a preparation like this, it really does give us what we want,
00:56which is just a subtle hint of smokiness in the background.
00:59But anyway, once we've rubbed that all over, including any nooks and crannies,
01:03we'll go ahead and sprinkle over our coarse sea salt, and give it another rub down to spread
01:07that evenly. And of course, we're supposed to be using Hawaiian sea salt if we can get it,
01:13since apparently it provides a certain level of minerality. But I had a grey sea salt from Ireland,
01:18which seemed to work out very well. But anyway, use whatever you want.
01:23I mean, you are after all the 5-0 of how this should go.
01:27And speaking of detective work, when I was researching this, a lot of people used Himalayan
01:32salt, which is pretty much sold in every store, so you could go with that if you want.
01:37And that's it. Once our pork's been liquid smoked and salted, we will set it aside,
01:41and we will prep maybe the most important ingredient, which would be banana leaves,
01:46which are pretty easy to find frozen at any Latin or Asian grocery store.
01:51And you might not have to, but I cut the long pieces in half, just to make it a little easier
01:55to work with. Oh, and I should mention, what we're really supposed to use for the most authentic
02:00version, are something called tea leaves, tea eye. So if you can find those, which you can't,
02:07that's what you should go with. But if you can't, my Hawaiian friends say banana leaves are a great
02:11substitute. And what we'll do is lay those out on the counter, criss-crossing and overlapping
02:17the leaves as shown. And sure, to answer the obvious question, you can do this without the
02:21leaves, but they really do add a very unique and incredible flavor. And if you want to taste
02:26something close to actual clue pork, you really should try to use them. And what we'll do once
02:32those are laid out, is place our pork on top, and we'll take the ends of the leaves and bring
02:36them up over the meat, attempting to fully cover and wrap this pork up into a nice tight package.
02:42And by the way, I did make one sort of mistake here. I placed the pork on fat side up,
02:47when I really should have put it fat side down. Because once we have all the meat wrapped up in
02:51our leaves, we're going to pick it up and flip it over seam side down into a Dutch oven,
02:56or whatever covered pot we're going to roast this in. And once we turn that over, the fat's going
03:01to be on the bottom. And generally, we want the fat on the top to sort of baste the meat and keep
03:06it moist. Although with all these banana leaves, it's going to stay moist anyway. So it's probably
03:10not that big of a deal. But proper technique is proper technique. So if we're going to flip it,
03:15start with the fat side down. And that's it. Once we have that situated, we can use any extra banana
03:21leaves around the outside, around the outside, around the outside. And then I placed and tucked
03:26my last nice piece over the top. Since besides flavor, those also will provide some extra
03:31moisture. In fact, some people add a splash of stock to this before they roast it, which I didn't.
03:37And if you use plenty of leaves, I don't think you need to. And once that's set, we'll pop on the
03:41lid and we will transfer that into the center of a 325 degree oven for about four hours, depending
03:48on the size of your roast, or until we reach an internal temp of between 195 and 200, which I'm
03:55going to check with a thermometer. But if you don't have one, you can just partially unwrap
03:59and see if you're able to pull that meat off the bone with some tongs. And if you can't, just put
04:03it back in and roast it a little more. But anyway, temp-wise, this was perfect. And then what I like
04:09to do is cover this back up and let it rest for about 30 minutes to an hour before we pull the
04:15meat off the bone and shred it apart. Or you can if you want to do it right away. But personally,
04:20I like to let it rest. And don't worry, it's still going to be very, very hot. So I did end up letting
04:26mine sit there for just under an hour before I uncovered, unwrapped, and then started pulling
04:32off the succulent meat with some tongs and transferring it into a bowl where we're going to
04:35shred it. And if you do cook yours to an internal temp of 195 to 200, that meat should pull off the
04:41bone fairly easily. Unless, of course, it gets all tangled up in the banana leaf fibers, which
04:47definitely happened here and made things a little more challenging. So maybe I should have just
04:52removed the whole thing and done this in the bowl. But anyway, all's well that ends well.
04:57And then once all the meat's off the bone and we removed any meat that's left at the bottom of the
05:01pot, what we'll do is take a ladle or a spoon and we will transfer in all those amazing pan drippings
05:06into the bowl. Since we definitely want that incorporated once we shred the meat, so it can
05:11kind of get absorbed back in. And by the way, we're going to leave our banana leaves in the pot,
05:16since once we pull our pork apart, we're going to place it back in for what I think makes for a
05:20beautiful presentation. Which, by the way, I totally stole from the lovely and talented Jess
05:26from Plays Well with Butter. So a big thank you to her for the idea.
05:31And then to finish this, all we need to do, after we move the bone out of the way, is take a couple
05:35forks and shred this up as fine as we want. Which for me is actually very fine. Mostly because my
05:41favorite local Hawaiian barbecue spot does it that way. But you're the one pulling this pork apart,
05:47so you're the one that gets to decide. But I will say the smaller you shred it,
05:52the better it absorbs all those accumulated juices and rendered fat. But anyway, no matter
05:57how severely you decide to pull this apart, once we're done we have to taste it for salt.
06:03And believe it or not, mine needed another pinch. Which is not very uncommon and you might have to
06:08do the same. And as incredible as that first bite was, once you have this seasoned correctly,
06:14it is indescribably delicious. But before we get into the official tasting notes,
06:19let's move on to this stunning presentation. Because what we'll do once we've seasoned this,
06:24is transfer our Kalua pork back into our pot. And yes, I did place the bone at the bottom to give
06:29this a little more height for the contractually obligated pictures. So when you serve this,
06:34you don't have to do that. Although the meat really does look nice sitting up high and proud.
06:39Before I did place this meat back in, I noticed I had a little more juice at the bottom of the pot.
06:44So I spooned that out, which is what I'm drizzling over right now.
06:49And that's it. My take on Kalua pork was ready to enjoy. And while this really isn't the most
06:55visually exciting dish ever, the taste is going to be unlike any other pulled pork you've ever had.
07:01Okay, as long as you didn't over or undercook it, the texture is going to be the same.
07:05And it might look like other pulled porks you've had. But thanks to the meat being roasted in those
07:09banana leaves, the flavor really is truly unique. Right? The only frustration for me here
07:15is that I'm really not sure how to describe the flavor of the banana leaves in part.
07:19So I guess I'll just have to settle on saying it's kind of sweet and grassy,
07:23which really is not doing it justice. Right? No one's ever said, man, I'm really craving
07:28something sweet and grassy. Or at least not in the context of food. So I'm afraid you're just
07:34going to have to try it for yourself to fully understand. And while amazing as is, this does
07:40make for a memorable pulled pork sandwich, which I'm topping here with a charred pineapple sriracha
07:45sauce that I just invented, I think, that I would love to show you how to make in the near future,
07:50since I think it was the best fruit-based salsa I've had in a long time. So not surprisingly,
07:55this makes an incredible sandwich. Or you could serve it like a lot of my Hawaiian friends do,
08:00which is mixed with fried shredded cabbage and served with rice.
08:04And of course, if possible, a scoop of macaroni salad. But no matter how you serve your kalua pork,
08:10it really is a very special culinary experience, which is why I really do hope you give this a try
08:16soon. So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe,
08:22and much more info as usual. And as always, enjoy!