I know what you are thinking based on my title but no, we are not going to Hawaii...maybe someday in the far off future though!
About a year and a half ago I had Hawaiian BBQ for the first time at a catered dinner theater my nephew starred in. It was sooo good! Little did I know at the time that it would become one of my cravings. Unfortunately the restaurant it came from is quite a distance from our house. I don't crave it often--maybe every 3-4 months--but when it hits, it doesn't go away until I get some. About a year ago we found a restaurant, Rumbi Island Grill, about 15 minutes away that meets my need. The only thing I ever get is the Luau Pork Plate. Jeremy has tried various things there and has not been that impressed but he's never tried the Luau Pork Plate. Early last week Jeremy showed me a coupon for a different Hawaiian BBQ restaurant about 25 minutes from us and that was all it took to set off my craving. I thought about it all week and decided that rather than head to the restaurant I would try to make my own at home, hoping for half-way decent results. It turned out fabulous! And it was easy! Jeremy also thought it was amazing and said I should definitely make it again. All the kids liked it too.
I searched on the internet and pulled recipes from various places. I adjusted the sauce recipe to my taste and made up my own recipe for the rice. So, here they are. These recipes fed 3 adults and 4 children with enough leftovers to have another complete meal. I wanted this for our Sunday lunch, so I put the pork in the crock pot around 4 pm on Saturday (to be done around noon on Sunday), made the sauce and rice Saturday evening and then reheated it on Sunday when we got home from church.
Kalua Pork
2 1/2 lb pork roast (can be pork butt, pork loin or whatever is cheapest at the time)
3/4 Tbs Sea Salt (called for Hawaiian Sea Salt but I didn't have any on hand so I used what I did have)
1/2 Tbs Liquid Smoke
Place pork in crock pot. Pierce all over with a fork, rub with salt and then with Liquid Smoke. Cook on low for 16-20 hours. Shred with forks and mix in sauce to taste, let heat through.
Hawaiian BBQ Sauce (this is tripled from the orginal)
1 C Pineapple Juice
3/4-1 C Teriyaki Sauce
2/3 C Ketchup
2-3 Garlic Cloves
3-4 Tbs Brown Sugar
3 Tbs fresh ginger, minced
Place all ingredients in a sauce pan, except ginger. Bring to a boil, let boil for 10 minutes. Stir in ginger and remove from heat. I strained the garlic and ginger out just before pouring it over the pork.
Coconut Rice
2 C uncooked brown rice
3/4 C coconut milk
1 1/4 C water
pinch of salt
Bring water and coconut milk to boil, stir in rice. Simmer for 45-50 minutes. Rice may be a bit "gooey", if so you can saute it in a skillet for a few minutes to evaporate some of the stickiness. (I made it Sat. night and we reheated in a skillet on Sunday and it was perfect.)
Other needed Ingredients:
Crushed Pineapple
2 cans of Red Beans
Serve Kalua Pork, red beans and pineapple over rice. Traditionally Macaroni salad and Asian Slaw are served with this. I bought some Macaroni Salad at the deli to go with it, but really just the pork and rice are enough to make me happy. We also ate Kings Hawaiian rolls with ours. And we topped the meal off with a mixture of Pineapple Juice and Sprite to drink. I wish I'd taken a picture of it. Perhaps I will take on when we have leftovers and then post it here.
I "aloha" Hawaiian BBQ and I'm so happy to be able to satisfy my craving at home!
Tonight we are having homemade Gumbo in honor of the Saints win yesterday---Yum-o!
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