[wannchef]

You will need to make 1/3 lb - 1/2 lb meat for each guest if no other entr'ee is served.

I have instructions for oven baking "Randy's Famous 13 hour Kalua Pig" if you want it. I will try to post it right now.

Ingredients for Randy's Famous 13 Hour Kalua Pig:
1. Pork butt, pork shoulder, or some other piece of pork with fat on it*
2. Water
3. Hawaiian-style "rock" salt or coarse Kosher salt
4. Liquid/hickory smoke flavor concentrate
5. A big deeeep roasting pan (two if you can)
6. An oven

How much pork should you buy to make kalua pig?
First, you need to know approximately how many people you are expecting, what type of event you are cooking/catering for, and what the context is of the kalua pig with the other menu items. Generally, a good rule of thumb is that the average person will eat anywhere from 1/4lb. of kalua pig, if it is served in conjunction with other items, such as a buffet line (i.e.: rice, poi, chicken long rice, laulau, curry stew, etc.). However, if the kalua pig is one of the only dishes (i.e., a dinner party with kalua pig/rice and vegetarian curry stew), people will be more apt to eat 1/3lb. - 1/2lb., or more if they are really hungry or homesick. Then, take into consideration that most cuts of pork have bones that are relatively heavy. If you are catering a large-ish event (100+ people), then you can opt towards having about 1/4lb. per person; not everyone will eat the kalua pig. For small gatherings (~30 people), I will usually buy about 15lbs., because I like to have extra to save for later.

I will now describe each step in making my 13-hour kalua pig.

The Trays



You need to get realllly deep trays. This is to collect the juices and steam the pork. You need to double the pans so that there is enough support to hold the pork (it'll be really heavy).

The Pork

This is the raw pork. Notice the big slabs of fat on top. This is what you want, if you want juicy kalua pig. We'll remove most of the fat later (after cooking) but for now, keep it on.

The Flavoring

Coarse Kosher salt is a good substitute for Hawaiian-style "rock" salt. It comes in a big box like the one pictured here. Liquid smoke concentrate usually comes in smallish bottles like the one at right. (Sorry for the blurriness picture).

Prepare & Season the Pork

Place pork in pan, with fat on top. Lightly sprinkle the Kosher salt over the pork and around the sides of the pan. Empty one capful (or less) of hickory smoke flavoring onto top of pork and around sides. Be careful; the smoke concentrate is very strong; a little goes a looong way!

Cover the Pork with Water

Cover the pork with water. Notice how the pork is mostly submerged; however there is at least one inch of space between water surface and top of pan. When you pour the water into the pan, pour some on the top of the pork to make it moist. You can add a little extra salt around the the pork if you want. The water and salt will steam the pork.

Prepare Pork for Cooking

Cover the pans tightly with foil. It is crucial that the foil be wrapped as tightly as possible; this will ensure that the meat stays moist and won't dry out over the next thirteen hours. As tight as the foil has been wrapped, you still must be careful when loading the pans into the oven; these pans will be heavy with salty water, and cleaning up any spills will be a big mess.

Cook the Pork in the Oven
Preheat your oven to somewhere between 175-200 degrees Farenheit:

I know it sounds like a really low temperature, but trust me. You wanted the 13 hour method, didn't you? ...


Place the pork in the oven, and say "a hui hou" (until we meet again). Bon Voyage, dear pork, see you in 13 hours.

THIRTEEN HOURS LATER...

Take the pork out of the oven. It will be swimming in its own juices. Using two forks, wrestle free a chunk of pork and place it on the cutting board.


Start shredding the pork into threads as thin/small as you can, again using your two forks. If for some reason you encounter a tough section (typically whiteish in color), you will need to use extra caution and be sure to shred it as finely as possible. However, you likely won't encounter any tough sections (unless the cut of pork is bad), due to the 13 hour duration of cooking. In my experience, the meat should be so tender that it literally falls of the bone and apart from itself. The color of the juiciest meat will typically be dark brown with a reddish tinge. You can leave some fat with the shredded meat, but remove all of the larger pieces, along with any bones or tendons. I collect these in a bowl to toss out later. The shredded meat should be placed back in the pan with the original juices. You can remove some of the juices, but the pork should essentially be saturated with its juices. Give it a taste, and decide if you want to add just a touch more salt. Extra hickory flavoring should never be added because the taste of the concentrate won't blend well with the already-steamed pork.
After shredding, mix pork and juices by hand. This is also an excellent time to further refine the shreds, and to remove any pieces of fat, bone, or cartilege that you may have missed previously. If you are serving right away, you may want to quickly reheat the pork in the oven. If not, re-cover pans with foil and refridgerate or freeze. Reheat frozen pork at 350 degrees Farenheit for 15 minutes, and then dial temperature back down to 175-200 degrees. Refridgerated pork may be reheated directly at 175-200 degrees. Before serving re-heated pork, stir pan contents to even out mixture of pork and juices. If you plan to refridgerate pork and re-heat before serving, be sure to include an extra helping of juices - this will help keep the pork moist and fresh.
This recipe, text, and images copyright 2004 by Randy Wong.

For the Pineapple Barbecue Sauce:
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 cup pineapple preserves
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in juice
¼ cup cider vinegar
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated fresh gingerroot
Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, until slightly thickened. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Can be prepared up to 1 week ahead.
Makes 4 cups of sauce.