Tiki Tuesday: Kalua Pork

E komo mai!

A couple of weeks ago, we embarked on a culinary journey across the Pacific Ocean, upon which we will be sampling new and unheard-of dishes created in sincere Polynesian style. I have selected the alliterative name “Tiki Tuesday” as a venue for disclosure of the success or failure of each weekend’s Polynesian-Style dinner over the course of this summer.

Last weekend’s dinner was a success, in that the food was all edible and my wife and kids enjoyed it.

On the menu:

Kalua Pork
Fried Plantains in savory coconut sauce
Tropical Fruit Salad

A note for my Kosher-observing readers: you may substitute chicken breasts or chuck roast for the pork; it should work about the same.

Now, real Kalua Pork (or “Kalua Pig” as it’s called) is traditionally prepared in an Imu, a makeshift oven that’s basically a pit dug in the sand and filled with rocks that have been heating up in a fire. The pork is wrapped tightly in Ti leaves and Banana leaves, set on the hot rocks and then buried to cook all day. What you end up with is a smoked, pulled-pork kind of dish. It’s amazingly good.

Since I think the homeowner’s association would frown upon my digging up the yard and cooking a pig, I had to figure out another means of cooking my roast. I chose a five pound pork roast, seasoned it with salt, pepper, ginger and allspice, and set it in a smoker for six hours.
This would give it the flavor I wanted. It rested overnight in the refrigerator. The next day I coated it in a mop sauce consisting of apple cider vinegar, sautéed sweet onions, freshly grated ginger and passion fruit syrup. Then I wrapped it in Taro leaves and Ti leaves (Banana leaves are not to be found anywhere in the metro area) and aluminum foil (to hold it together) and set it in a crock pot for ten hours on low, adding a cup of water to make sure it stayed moist.

Ten hours was the perfect cooking time. The result was a tender, moist, smoky and aromatic meat that could be pulled apart with a fork and made into a sandwich (one of my kids ate it this way) or just eaten as is. No sauce required.

The plantains were fairly simple. I chose three green plantains, peeled them (not an easy task) and cut them into ½ inch slices. These I fried up in 2 tbs canola oil, and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. About two minutes per side is enough to give them a nice browning.

I prepared the coconut sauce the same way as last time, only this time I didn’t bother with the corn starch, I used less milk and didn’t let it come to a boil. This kept it from curdling. Also, I added ¼ cup of mango puree and a half teaspoon of orange flower water to give it a tropical, floral note. This worked beautifully. I served the plantains with the coconut sauce. In retrospect I think I had a bit too much salt in the sauce, and the plantains were a bit bland on their own. Maybe they can be marinated.

The fruit salad consisted of pineapple, mango, kiwi and cantaloupe. Mangoes are strange; they have this wedge-shaped pit inside that’s hard to discern from the fruit itself. This makes it difficult to slice up unless you’ve done it a bunch. Practice makes perfect with these things.

For next week, I’m going to head back to cooking chicken, and see if I can amp up the vegetable factor. There are a few other ingredients I’m hoping to find around here: taro root, breadfruit and awapuhi.

A hui hou!