Oven Kalua Pork

Oven kalua pork is the mainland workaround for Hawaii’s most famous luau dish. Traditional kalua pork is wrapped in banana and ti leaves, then buried in an imu (an underground oven) lined with hot lava rocks, where it slow-roasts for the better part of a day until the meat falls apart at the touch of a fork.

This version skips the digging and gets remarkably close using just liquid smoke and coarse Hawaiian salt.

The choice of pork butt (also called Boston butt or pork shoulder) is the structural foundation here. The marbled fat melts during the long roast and bastes the meat from inside, while the abundant connective tissue breaks down into gelatin that gives kalua its signature silky texture.

Fat-side-up positioning is the small detail that matters: the rendering fat drips down through the meat over those three hours.

The Hawaiian alaea sea salt (which is colored red from volcanic clay) brings a mineral depth that ordinary salt can’t match. Liquid smoke provides the missing element from the imu pit, an authentic hickory or mesquite note that mimics the smoldering kiawe wood smoke of the real thing.

Pro Tips

• Use coarse Hawaiian alaea salt if you can find it. Kosher salt works in a pinch but skips the mineral edge.
• Don’t trim the fat cap. It’s the basting layer that keeps the meat from drying out over three hours.
• Cover tightly with foil if your roasting pan lid is loose. Steam is essential for the breakdown of connective tissue.
• Shred while hot using two forks or insulated gloves. The meat stiffens up as it cools and shreds less cleanly.

Variations

• Wrap the pork in banana leaves before roasting (available frozen at Asian markets) for a closer-to-authentic flavor.
• Use the leftovers for kalua pork sliders with sweet Hawaiian rolls and pickled cabbage.
• Stir shredded leftovers into a pot of cabbage sauteed in the cooking liquid for the classic kalua pork and cabbage.