In the Kitchen With Ricky: Celebrate National Pulled Pork Day with the taste of Hawaii, minus the backyard pit

National Pulled Pork Day is today, and it took me a minute to think of what to do to celebrate. There are so many recipes out there, weather you’re doing it on the pit, over an open flame, in a slow cooker or low and slow in the oven, there seems to be so many resources available. I decided to celebrate the traditional Hawaiian dish of Kalua Pig, especially since we just came off Hawaiian History Month in September.

Hawaii has some very rich and fascinating culture that I have always been drawn to. I think it stems from my great grandmother, Minnie Rego, coming over from Portugal and first living in Hawaii, where she picked sugar cane in the early 1900s. She eventually made her way to Northern California, which is where she settled and where I grew up.

Kalua Pig is traditionally cooked in an in-ground oven or pit, known as an imu. It takes on the flavors of the smoke from the burning wood coals, the steam from the banana leaves and Hawaiian sea salt, used to season it. It is a very minimal ingredient dish with maximum flavor. This traditional dish is always served at a luau and is one of the most well-known dishes in Hawaii. Although we won’t be using an imu to cook our pork today, this recipe is about as close as you can get to the flavor of the real thing if using your home oven.

After you read the ingredient list, you may ask; “Are banana leaves really necessary?”, well the short answer is yes. Because there are so few ingredients used in the traditional preparation, the earthiness from the leaves really does shine and compliment the richness of the pork. Banana leaves can be found frozen at any Asian supermarket, and I got mine at Asian World Food Market on Division Street. They were easy to find in the freezer section and inexpensive at just under $4 for a pack of way more than you’ll need for this recipe.

Now, if going out on the hunt for frozen banana leaves doesn’t add to the experience for you or you can’t seem to source them, you can omit them and still have a delicious, shredded pork. I recommend wrapping the raw, seasoned pork in a couple large pieces of parchment paper with a couple bay leaves thrown in to help mimic the earthiness. Then treat it just as you would if you had used the leaves. It may not have quite the depth of flavor, but I know you will still enjoy the end result.

Kalua Pig

3 pounds pork shoulder roast, bone-in recommended

2 tablespoons Hawaiian red salt (Himalayan salt can be used as a substitute)

2 tablespoons liquid smoke

2 banana leaves, thawed if frozen

1½ cups chicken stock

4 cloves garlic

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees with the rack placed in the middle part of the oven.

Cut the pork shoulder into 5-6 large pieces, keeping the bone.

Toss the meat in a bowl with the salt and liquid smoke.

Transfer the coated pieces to a laid-out banana leaf and wrap the pieces snugly in the leaves. If not using the banana leaves, wrap the seasoned pork in parchment paper.

Place wrapped pork into your Dutch oven and add chicken stock and garlic cloves around banana leaf packet.

Cover and place the Dutch oven into the preheated oven and cook for 4 hours.

Remove pot from oven and let sit for 20 minutes before shredding.

Discard bone and serve the traditional way with steamed white rice and macaroni salad. It is also often cut with shredded cabbage and griddled to help wilt the cabbage and combine the flavors and textures.

This is also great for pulled pork sandwiches and tacos.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Local award-winning chef Ricky Webster, owner of Rind and Wheat and the new Morsel, can be reached at ricky@rindandwheat.com. Follow Webster on Instagram @rickycaker.