Kalua Pig BBQ with pic's

Clay Q

The picnic shoulder Kalua pig roast was great. Everything about this cook was out of the ordinary and it was a nice change from the usual pork shoulder BBQ. The meat just fell apart in my hands- no need to use a fork to pull. I started eating as I was pulling- I could not help it. Diane loved all the dark meat. Actually, once the outside skin and bone was removed there was little fat on the meat. Just long strands of meat and a little gristle that turned to jelly. The banana leaf wrap was just for fun but gosh, it sure looked like we were back in Hawaii for a day. I can imagine that the leaves do help retain moisture though. The leaves added a light flavor to the exposed meat areas but about 75% of the picnic was covered in skin. There was no smoke taste and I expected that. I thank the Tiki god, the egg and the great folks on this forum that made yesterdays cook a success. [p] Oh, and by the way, Pua'a ma'i 'ono loa!

The first pic is the wrap I made with banana leaves, held in place with bamboo skewers. A nice fit in the large.
The second pic is my Tiki god guarding the egg.
The third is the pig resting in the leaves after reaching 200 degrees internal.
The fourth is Aloha! Kalua pig! Yes sir, this was so tender I could shout the bone out. The marinade and lot’s of cracked black pepper shows up in the color of the skin. The bone came out clean. Removed the remaining skin and fat and proceeded to pull sections of meat. No fork needed here, it just fell apart.
The fifth is a close up. After pulling we added some salt and pepper then dug in. I like this meat- less fat than a shoulder, all dark, pulls in long strands of delicious, tender BBQ. I had leftovers tonight with my sauce added and I got to tell ya, I like it better than shoulder-Boston butt. You can count on me doing this again.[p]

DobieDad

Clay Q,[p]Ohhh looks so ono-licious, brah! Mahalo for the pics.[p]Definitely will try that soon![p]Rodger

Smokin Joe

Clay Q,
Glad to hear it worked out so well. Where did you get the banana leaves? Did you use any wood chunks or chips for flavoring? Joe

Clay Q

DobieDad,
It's a fairly easy cook- just a long one. You will enjoy the pork this way and I'm sure it will bring back memories of your beach party in Hawaii.[p]About Grove hardwood charcoal; I use it all the time and I find it to be a quality product. Good burn, clean, no smoke-wood is completly carbonized as charcoal. Mostly oak, some maple. Made from wood branches, not milled industry scraps.[p]Today, I recieved a free 20# bag of charcoal called Natural Hardwood Lump Charcoal from a friend of mine that wants me to try it out. He is wondering if it's a good lump to sell in his store and want's my opinion. We will see..........
Aloha!
Clay

Clay Q

Smokin Joe,
Hey Smoking Joe! I got the banana leaves from the zoo. I had a hard time avoiding the gorilla, let me tell ya. Then a buddy of mine said that they sell them in Oriental grocery markets. Sure enough, there they were nicely folded in the frozen section. And only $1.78 . Defrosted in some cold water and they were ready to go. If I only knew that before....[p]For smoking I used some coconut shell, like the nut that I am and this is not recommended. It's like smoking with bark- not a good smell. I should've had guava wood. This was not really essential as the banana leaves blocks the smoke. [p]Thanks for your help! Aloha!
Getting sleepy Clay

guavawood

Clay Q,[p]If you have any pork left over, try taking about a pound of it, throw in a 1/4 cup of Teriyaki sauce and a big head of Chinese cabbage (bok choi) chopped a few times and cook in pot covered until cabbage is cooked. Make some Japanese sticky rice on the side and you got one "local" style Hawaiian plate lunch![p]My wife and I enjoyed the pics![p]Aloha![p]Greg.

thirdeye

Clay Q,[p]Looks great & a different presentation to boot! How about re-posting the marinade, scanned the recent past but could not locate it. Thx[p]~thirdeye~

Smokin Joe

Clay Q,
The gorilla comment was a funny one. It's is good to know about the source of the leaves - maybe nexttime a weave of leaves leaving some room for the smoke to penetrate. Also sounds like guava wood has a great idear for leftovers. When's lunck??? LOL Joe

Clay Q

thirdeye,
I'll give you two. The first is home made the second is store bought. Both are similer, I used the store bought and marinated overnight in a 2 gal. ziplock plastic bag.[p]Kalua pig marinade[p]2 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
1/2 soy sauce
4 cloves chopped garlic
2 tablespoons sherry
1/8 cup dark brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1/2 cup brown bean sauce
3 teaspoons tomato paste[p]Mix and simmer a day before then apply to the pork and marinate overnight.[p]
Store bought Chinese marinade; Lee Kum Kee Chinese Marinade. Combine 1 part marinade to 4 parts cold water, marinate overnight in plastic bag. Available in Asian and Oriental food markets.

thirdeye

Clay Q,
Thanks so much for the marinade. Was there any problem with the fat drippings building up inside the banana leaves?[p]~thirdeye~

Clay Q

thirdeye,
No. Fat melted off past the leaves and into drip pan. My setup was inverted platesetter, grid, v rack in drip pan with the banana package resting on the rack. The banana wrap is not a tight package, only two leaves folded in half length wise and then cross wraped so the meat is covered on all sides. Sort of a loose wrap. The leaves were rather tender so I could not make a tight wrap anyway. [p]Ordering guava wood from Greg and going to try banana wrap on a big chicken. Keep on smokin.......
Clay