Oven Kalua Pork
Pork shoulder rubbed with coarse sea salt and liquid smoke, sealed in foil, and left in a low oven for most of a day. Three ingredients stand in for an underground imu, and the result shreds into strands.
- Prep15 min
- Cook6 h
- Total6 h 30 min
- Serves10
AI-generated illustration
Contains:meat
Ingredients
Method
- Pierce the pork shoulder all over with a small sharp knife, about twenty times, so the salt and smoke can reach past the surface.
- Rub the liquid smoke over every side of the roast with your hands, then pack on the coarse sea salt, pressing it into the cuts.
- Set the pork fat side up in a roasting pan, pour the water around it, and seal the pan completely with two layers of heavy foil crimped tightly to the rim. The trapped steam is what does the work.
- Roast at 325°F (160 degrees C) for 5 1/2 to 6 hours, without opening the foil at any point. The pork is done when the bone pulls free with no resistance and the meat reads about 200°F (93 degrees C), well past the safe temperature and into the range where the connective tissue has melted.
- Lift the roast onto a board, let it rest 20 minutes, then pull the meat into strands with two forks, discarding the bone and any large seams of fat.
- Skim the fat from the pan juices and toss the shredded pork with enough of them to keep it wet. Add the cabbage wedges to the remaining hot juices in the covered pan and return it to the oven for 20 minutes, until tender, then serve alongside.
Notes
- Hawaiian alaea sea salt is traditional and gives a reddish tint, but any coarse sea salt works.
- The shredded pork freezes well in its juices and reheats without drying out.
