There are a few things I love… crockpot meals, pulled pork and Hawaii. Put them together and you get Kalua Pig. My sweet friend Kristi is married Paul and Paul is Hawaiian. Every time they throw a party, Kalua Pig is the meat that is served. I did a little google searching on the word Kalua. According to trusty old wikipedia it's a cooking method that Hawaiian's use where they roast a pig underground and get all sorts of smokey flavor from the leaves used and the pig smoldering in the smoke. You can read more here. The process was interesting but I'll stick to the crockpot and liquid smoke to get me the same flavor.
After attending multiple birthday parties in Kristi's backyard and eating the same delicious pulled pork I asked her for the recipe. I was shocked how simple it was! Just a few ingredients and so much flavor. No wonder it was her party recipe of choice. Not to mention it fits her Hawaiian-styled family well. Kristi is also a cross fit guru. She eats lean and preps her meals and her hard work has paid off.. aka she's got muscles! And as I mentioned in my previous post I’m on a quest to lose a few extra baby pounds. Logging meals and tracking activity with my UP MOVE has motivated me on this journey. Shown below is the tracker that I clip on my jeans through the day.
My plan for losing hard earn pregnancy pounds is to gradually increase my activity level and eat low fat and low sugar. I'm still nursing and need to eat plenty of food, just focusing my eating to lean and nutrient rich foods. This dinner was right on. I threw in some tomatoes, avocado, pineapple and cilantro! There was so much flavor no extra sauce or salt was needed. I served it with rice but for an even leaner meal skip the rice and go with dark greens. Also.. you might want to double this! Put some in the freezer for a quick meal later or just to eat through the week! I made this for my family and there were no left overs! I think I need to hit up Kristi for a few more lean recipes after trying this one!
Kalua Pig
Ingredients
- 4 lbs Pork shoulder or butt bone in or bone out*
- 1 tablespoon Hawaiian Salt or coarse sea salt
- 2 teaspoon Crushed Garlic
- ⅓ cup Mesquite Flavor Liquid Smoke
- Water Optional
Instructions
- Rub salt and garlic over meat.
- Place in a crockpot that has been sprayed with cooking oil.
- Pour over Liquid Smoke.
- Add a little water to prevent meat from scorching or drying (3-4 tbsp)
- Cook on low for 6 hours or until meat shreds easily.
Nutrition
Erin V says
this just got me itching to go on vacation hahahah but still good to get a taste of hawaii right at home