# Hawaiin themed pulled pork



## otis857 (Jan 12, 2012)

Greetings or should I say Aloha?

   Its a little late to post this, but I need a good Hawaiian type of rub, finishing or bbq sauce, or marinade for smoking a Pork Butt this Saturday. We are having our annual "after the hangover" party Sat nite, and want to do a Tiki party theme. Now I've got a traditional pork butt down pretty good, but what about an island type of variation? maybe something using pineapple juice or other tropical ingredients? Suggestions please???


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## johnnie walker (Jan 12, 2012)

That sounds like it would be good. I can't help you out but someone else that can will be along shortly. Or you could PM Chef Jimmy J on here.


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## scarbelly (Jan 12, 2012)

If you want a truly authentic Kahlua Pork here is a tried and true recipe that I used when I was a caterer 

5# Pork Butt trimmed of excess fat and a couple of slashes to allow the penetration of the salt and the liquid smoke. 

1 1/2 Tbsp Kosher Salt

2 Tbsp Liquid Smoke

2 Bananna Leaves - if not available I have used Bird of Paradise leaves too

Preheat oven to 325 

In a large baking pan lay out two large pieces of foil in a crossing pattern.

Next lay out the bananna leaves in a crossing pattern and place the roast in the center.

Sprinkle with the salt and liquid smoke. 

Now fold the leaves to encase the roast 

Now fold the foil to encase the entire package. It is important to go in two different directions with the foil so it does not leak

Roast for 45 min per pound. Carefully unwrap the package and shred the meat.

I serve this with rice made with lipton noodle flavored soup (just dump one package in with each cup of rice and two cups of water)  and add chopped pineapple, peas and some scallions when the rice is cooked.   

Hope this helps


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## duanes (Jan 12, 2012)

There is nothing special about the pig for Hawaiian.  It is smoked pork with salt.  When I was at my one and only luau on the big island, I asked the folks that were burying the pig about preparation,any special herbs or spices, etc.,. Response was, "Pig, Salt, Heat, Eat."  It was tasty.  If you want to make it authentic, serve it with Poi - however, personally, I think Poi is nasty stuff.


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## otis857 (Jan 12, 2012)

Thanks Scarbelly & DuaneS, I read that before about jus cooking it with salt and was surprised that there wasn't more to it. I had also seen the banana leaves referenced too, although they may be hard to come by in Az. Perhaps I should rephrase this post to mean something tropical, yet not truly authentic Hawaiin. something with a tropical flavor to it that I can sell as (fake) Hawaiian. And I am going to smoke it, any suggestions?


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## scarbelly (Jan 12, 2012)

Otis857 said:


> Thanks Scarbelly & DuaneS, I read that before about jus cooking it with salt and was surprised that there wasn't more to it. I had also seen the banana leaves referenced too, although they may be hard to come by in Az. Perhaps I should rephrase this post to mean something tropical, yet not truly authentic Hawaiin. something with a tropical flavor to it that I can sell as (fake) Hawaiian. And I am going to smoke it, any suggestions?




Go to an Asian store for the Banana leaves- they are in the frozen section - Like I said Bird of Paradise works too - if you can't find either one just wrap in foil real good so it does not leak It needs to cook in its own liquid to be good


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## justpassingthru (Jan 13, 2012)

Hey Otis,

The other posters are correct, "authentic" Polynesian cooking doesn't require the use any spices, not even salt!  Having said that the restaurants found they needed to add some salt and a little pepper to accommodate the tourists taste to sell their "in ground" cooked food.

I would suggest you cook your pork as usual, not too spicy, and add a Polynesian mop or finishing sauce, here are a few recipes I've tried with pretty good results and some that are on the to do list:

Pineapple Rum Sauce

_Ingredients_

3 cups fresh pineapple chunks (1/2-inch pieces) 
1/2 cup sugar 
3/4 cup water 
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest 
2 tablespoons light rum 
[h4] [/h4][h4]Instructions[/h4]
Combine pineapple, sugar, water and zest in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until pineapple is tender and the liquid is slightly thickened, about 30 to 35 minutes. Stir in the rum, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and using an immersion blender or food processor puree the pineapple mixture. Allow sauce to chill completely.

Yield: about 2 cups 

Orange ginger sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 c. orange juice
2 tsp. ginger juice or 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
Directions:

Place all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and mix well.
Bring the sauce to a boil just before serving.
[h2]Mango sauce recipe[/h2]
2lbs of ripe mangoes
1 small onion
2 sweet red peppers
2 tbls-1/4 cup ordinary white vinegar
Salt
A  little sugar if needed
First, cut the mango into two long flat halves around the stone inside. Pull the two halves apart and discard the stone. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon and place into a blender.
Chop the onion and sweet red peppers, and sauté over medium heat in about 1Tbls of vegetable oil. Sautee until the onions and peppers are soft, about ten minutes. 
Add these sautéed onions and peppers to the blender with the mango flesh and add your 2 Tbls of vinegar.
Puree the mixture until smooth.
Add 1/2 tsp of salt and taste. You want the sauce to be sweet and tart and savory, without being noticeably salty. If you think it is a little bland, add another pinch of salt, and if you think it is too sweet, add a little more vinegar. Most mangoes are sweet enough already, but if your sauce tastes too sour, you can mix in a little sugar to sweeten it up. 
Hawaiian Style BBQ Sauce

1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice

3/4 cup ketchup 

3/4 cup teriyaki sauce

3 tbsp brown sugar

3 tsp ginger

3 minced garlic cloves

Can also adjust with other tropical fruit juice or puree' as per taste mix and simmer 15 minutes or so.
[h1]Sweet And Sour Pineapple Sauce Recipe[/h1][h1]Ingredients:[/h1][h1]
1 can (8 1/2 ounce size) unsweetened crushed pineapple
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice[/h1]
Directions:

Combine all ingredients in saucepan and simmer 15 minutes. 

Tropical Barbeque Sauce
------------------------ 
1 cup water 
1 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp catsup
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
1 cup pineapple — crushed
1 Tbsp arrowroot
1/4 cup water — cold
Mix together 1 cup water and brown sugar. Add catsup, soy sauce, dry mustard and pineapple. Bring to a boil; simmer ten minutes. Dissolve arrowroot in 1/4 cup water; add to sauce and cook until sauce thickens.
 

Grilled Pineapple Salsa 
------------------------ 
1/2 cup fresh pineapple — medium dice 
1/4 cup sliced red onion
1/2 jalapeno — minced
1 1/2 tsp cilantro — chopped
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 lime — juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Use 1/3 of a whole fresh pineapple. Peel, core and slice 1/2". Grill until the sugars start to caramelize. Dice and add other ingredients.

Guava BBQ Sauce 
--------------- 
2 cans guava nectar — (11.5 oz. cans) 
1 1/2 cups onion — chopped
2/3 cup guava jelly
1/3 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup molasses (mild-flavored light)
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbsp garlic — chopped
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp dry mustard
Whisk all ingredients in a large saucepan. Boil mixture, whisking until jelly dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is reduced to 3 cups. Cool.
 

Polynesian Teriyaki Sauce 

1/2 c Soy Sauce 
1/3 c Apricot-Pineapple preserves
1/2 ts Ginger
1/4 ts Garlic powder
1 tb Cornstarch
1/4 c Water

Combine first four ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil slowly. While sauce is cooking, combine cornstarch and water and add to sauce. Cook until sauce thickens.

Those should give you a good choice, it might be hard to find fresh mangoes this time of the year, but being close to Mexico you just might.

Have fun and please don't forget the Q-view.

Gene


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## scarbelly (Jan 13, 2012)

Hey Gene thanks for the great post - I just hit the Evernote button and copied all of these into my cookbook  

I am all over the Mango and Guava sauces. They all sound great


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## sprky (Jan 13, 2012)

I have done pork roast similar to what you are looking for. I marinade the roast for 12 - 24 hours in Lawry's Hawaiian Marinade, roast is poked full of holes. Thin the maranade with water by 50%.  Reserve the marinade and boil it to use for basting.  Smoked till the IT is 200, basting with the marinade every hour, after 4 hours. Foil with some marinade in foil and let rest for couple hours. Pull roast and added more marinade, as needed. This is quite tasty.


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 13, 2012)

WOW! I think Gene got you covered, I will be saving these too!...Half of those recipes sound like they would be good...Shaken with 2 ounces of Rum and poured in a TIKI Glass...Don't forget the Umbrella and Cherry!...JJ


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## stubshaft (Jan 13, 2012)

DuaneS said:


> There is nothing special about the pig for Hawaiian.  It is smoked pork with salt.  When I was at my one and only luau on the big island, I asked the folks that were burying the pig about preparation,any special herbs or spices, etc.,. Response was, "Pig, Salt, Heat, Eat."  It was tasty.  If you want to make it authentic, serve it with Poi - however, personally, I think Poi is nasty stuff.




The primary flavor of Kalua Pig is from the Ti leaf you spread over the hog although it is lightly salted with rock salt.  The banana stump and leaf is put directly on the rocks to provide moisture (steam) and in itself gives up very little flavor.  When the pig is removed from the imu is is pulled and deboned.  The bones go into a pot and are boiled to provide a stock that is lightly salted with rock salt and mixed with the meat before serving.


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## SmokinAl (Jan 13, 2012)

Man those are awesome recipes Gene! Thanks!


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## otis857 (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks everyone for weighing in.

Gene, what a selection of recipes to choose from.That was just what I was looking for, something that says tropical island, while not necessarily being truly authentic. Just what I need for this Az Hawaiian desert poser party. I think I'll make about 3 or 4 of these sauce recipes for guests to try on their sammys.

I'll look for Sprkys suggested Hawaiian marinade to inject it with prior to smoking and baste, Thanks Sprky. Previously, I had settled in with Diet Cherry Dr Pepper as my injection as suggested by Rob @ Smokingpit.com. If you haven't tried it, you should, its damn good and has won every blind taste test here at the house of Otis so far.

Stubshaft, thanks for the clarification. I don't know if I can find Ti leaves at the Asian market, but I'll look. What kind of flavor do they add to the meat? I've never had Kalua Pig, and have never been lucky enough to go to Hawaii yet, but plan to soon.

I'll get the Q views up soon


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## webowabo (Jun 3, 2013)

I am wanting to also do something like Otis this weekend while on the beach.. hawaiian themed party. 
This is something im gonna try and need to know what y'all think. 
Hawaiian Pulled Pork

INGREDIENTS:

1 - 3.5 lb pork shoulder, boston butt1 large onion, chopped1 tablespoon smoked paprika1 teaspoon black pepper1 - 6 oz can tomato paste1 tablespoon or more hot chili sauce (sriracha) Optional1 cup pineapple juice1/4 cup soy sauce1/4 cup teriyaki sauce1/2 cup brown sugar1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add all ingredients but pork to crockpot. Stir well. Add pork. Turn crockpot on low and cook for 8 hours, or till when pork is falling apart.2. Break pork up with a spoon, or shred with two forks. Sauce should be pretty thick, if it's still two thin, turn crock pot to high until it thickens.

I plan to do this on my UDS ILL be taking down with me. If I just make the sauce.. put the pork in a foil pan with the sauce... and smoke regally til PP.. maybe baste with the sauce after a bark is formed. I think it should work. Maybe reduce the remaining juice for a finishing sauce or serve in the side. Ive never smoked a meatin a pan beforr...
Thanks for any feed back...
Mike


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## expat smoker (Jul 25, 2013)

stubshaft said:


> The primary flavor of Kalua Pig is from the Ti leaf you spread over the hog although it is lightly salted with rock salt.  The banana stump and leaf is put directly on the rocks to provide moisture (steam) and in itself gives up very little flavor.  When the pig is removed from the imu is is pulled and deboned.  The bones go into a pot and are boiled to provide a stock that is lightly salted with rock salt and mixed with the meat before serving.


Being from Hawaii, I agree with you re: Ti leaf as it is what gives it that Hawaiian flavor.  I'm now in Thailand, but i smuggled in some Ti leaf shoots and we now have it growing all over and have shared it with many friends. Grows easy in tropical climates and has many uses.  

When I make my Kalua pork, I simply lay down a couple of layers of foil, then banana leaves, then Ti leaves [and I agree with most that just salt ain't enough], I will flavor the pork with garlic, soi sauce and [forgive me] liquid smoke, a little black and red peppers and fold the whole thing up and cook it long and slow in my smoker.  

I try to choose a marbled cut of pork.....here they call it a collar cut, which has 10-15% fat spread evenly and the end result is pork so soft that you don't have to chew it.


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## livinnlearnin (Jan 15, 2014)

JustPassingThru said:


> Hey Otis,
> 
> The other posters are correct, "authentic" Polynesian cooking doesn't require the use any spices, not even salt!  Having said that the restaurants found they needed to add some salt and a little pepper to accommodate the tourists taste to sell their "in ground" cooked food.
> 
> ...


Ahead of time, sorry for the loooooong quote.

I was searching for a marinade idea to use for smoking some pork this weekend, to do the second test run for my new fridge smoker conversion. Did a couple of jerky flavors for the first meat smoking test and that ran smoothly. Not sure what cut I'll end up with on the pork, because the cuts here in Uruguay are not the same as in the US and to be honest quite strange to me. But anyway, I'm hankering some nice smoked pork.

Thanks for this lengthy post Gene, with so many recipes to choose from! I've got some rum that I was wanting to use for this and I do believe I can pull enough from your recipes to come up with a great marinade and sauce for this weekend's run. Appreciate the time that you took to put your post together. =)


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## link (Jan 15, 2014)

Great sauces here Gene, thanks. 

I am going to have to quit my job to get to all of the recipes that I save to make.


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## armymomma (Feb 2, 2014)

When I was a little girl, my mother dated an Islander.

He would never let her touch the grill.

He had a standard marinade that I use today, with or without a sauce to finish- but it really stands out on it's own.

1 part white wine ( gallo, or $2 buck Chuck, or whatever you have on hand)

1 large onion (per part of wine)

1 clove garlic smashed

 handful of peppercorns, knocked around, not necessarily ground

1/2 part brown sugar

fresh pineapple, also not particularly chopped, it will likely be discarded

It is a rancid smelling marinade, and very thin- almost like a brine. We threw chicken pieces (skin on) in a ziploc bag in the fridge overnight.

Sometimes we used scallions in place of white onion, or red onion...just to mix things up, and it made an interesting difference.

It is amazing on pork or chicken.

The red meat version included a dark beer or red wine.

I remember Louie telling me "Keep the meat sweet and drunk until it's dead, then salt it, and sauce it"

I also remember barbecue flare ups being doused with a splash of Coors, and the lid promptly closed to "steam the meat".

We used charcoal only back then, and the aroma in the air was heavenly. It attracted neighbors from a block over.

The chicken wings were out of this world, probably because they had the most concentration  of flavor...

Any sauce that is added, in my opinion, interferes with a childhood memory, but it is very good with regular sweet sticky stuff.


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