Hawaiian Kalua Pork

My absolute favorite place to eat in Alaska (or anywhere) is a restaurant called Hula Hands. For the first year and a half, we had it at every catered event on base, but I thought Anthony was saying "Houlihan's", so I couldn't figure out where I could get more of this stuff. All that time wasted. I don't know what they do to the food, but it's amazing. I have never liked macaroni salad, and I can't stop eating theirs. I've tried several times to recreate it with absolutely no success. We LOVE their Pulehu Chicken and Teriyaki Beef (still working on recipes for those), but the one that I think I've got down is the Kalua Pig. It takes awhile (16-20 hours), so you do need to think ahead, but it's cooking in the crock pot that whole time, so don't think you need to do a lot of work. This one is super simple.

Printable Recipe

Hawaiian Kalua Pork

1 (3-6 pound) pork butt roast

1 1/2 tablespoons Hawaiian Sea Salt or coarse kosher salt

1 tablespoon hickory or mesquite liquid smoke flavoring (I've always done mesquite)

1/2 head cabbage, shredded (optional--I've never put it in because that's not how Hula Hands does it)

Sticky rice, prepared

Use a skewer to pierce the pork all over.

Rub the meat all over with salt.

Place the roast in your slow cooker and pour liquid smoke over it.

Cover and cook on low for 16 to 20 hours. (You might need to add a cup of chicken broth near the end to keep it from drying out too much, but usually there is enough juice to keep that from happening.)

During the last hour of cooking, add the shredded cabbage, if desired.

Remove meat from slow cooker and shred, adding drippings as needed to moisturize.

Serve over mounds of sticky rice.

Serve with: Macaroni Salad