Kaluha Pig

About a year and a half ago, my husband and I spent a week in Hawaii.  We had an entire week, just the two of us, to explore and enjoy the island of Kauai. 

My husband is quite the athlete and is always up for any kind of adventure.  He's fond of surfing as he lived in Southern California for much of his childhood.  We'd talked about going surfing while in Hawaii and we set the day we'd go.  I'm pretty sure it was a Monday. 

Now, I, on the other hand, am not an athlete.  Needless to say, gym class was my own kind of nightmare.  However, in the interest of trying to score 'cool wife points' I pretended to be excited.  At least I tried to pretend.  I woke up that morning, opened my eyes and thought 'Oh, no.  It's time.'  My stomach was in knots and I'm pretty sure my palms were sweaty.  Nervously, I mustered anything brave and macho in my being and we headed to the beach.  Surprisingly, I had a great time!  I only lasted a couple hours and I'm pretty sure the folks on the beach were having a grand old time laughing at my wipe outs, but it was all in all a good time.  And hopefully, I scored the points I was hoping for.

Brad's favorite thing to eat in Hawaii was Kaluha Pig Nachos.  Every restaurant seemed to feature them on the menu.  They all came with huge chunks of slow-cooked pork heaped on top.  I was determined to figure out how to make them for him when we got home.  

Kaluha Pig doesn't have Kaluha in it.  It's just what it's called.  There are many recipes I found on-line, but this version is the one that works best for us.  I'm sure it's not authentic, but hopefully, no Hawaiian's out there find my Montana version too terribly blasphemous. 

Start with a 3-5 pound pork shoulder blade butt roast or anything similar.  This one is just over 4 pounds.  It will feed us dinner at least twice and usually a lunch too. 

This is liquid smoke.  Many of us have heard of it, but most of us don't have it on hand.  It's easy to find in the grocery store, only costs a couple bucks and will last in the fridge for a long time. 

This is Hawaiian sea salt I bought on our trip.  The TSA folks at the airport had to search my bag to see what it was.  You can use a different kind of sea salt though.

 That's it!  Just three ingredients.  Place the roast in a large crock pot and poke a bunch of holes in it with a knife.

Evenly pour about 1-2 tablespoons of liquid smoke over the top and then sprinkle about a tablespoon of sea salt on top.

Cover it and cook on high for 5-6 hours or so depending on the size of roast.  If you want to cook it on low while you're at work, allow about 8-10 hours.  It should fall apart easily with a fork when it's done.

This meat is so tender and tasty with a slight smoky taste. There are so many ways to serve this.  Make nachos for your spouse, serve it over rice as we did last night, stick it in a sandwich or wrap, or make a casserole with it like I am tonight.