Kālua Pork
Tender, juicy and kissed with a touch of smoke, kālua pork is an iconic and revered Hawaiian dish dating back to the earliest settlers of the islands. Kālua, meaning “to cook in an underground oven,” is a cooking method brought by the Polynesians to what is now the Hawaiian islands. Traditionally, a whole pig is seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt, wrapped in locally grown ti leaves (which are also used to weave leis) and cooked in a pit oven called an imu for hours to serve at luaus and potlucks. While it’s not possible to replicate those traditional flavors and cooking techniques at home, you can still prepare a succulent and flavorful kālua pork using a handful of ingredients. Here, boneless pork shoulder (or Boston butt) is drizzled with hickory liquid smoke, seasoned with Hawaiian salt, wrapped with more widely available banana leaves, and slowly cooked to tenderness in a low oven. (You can also use a slow cooker; see Tip.) Serve kālua pork with rice and mac salad for a Hawaiian-style
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