“I first ate the dish while living in Hawaii. We are lucky to have lived there for three years,” shared Lynette Davidson.
“This is one of my favorite dishes because everyone in my family loves and eats it! It also reminds me of our amazing time living in Hawaii! It embodies our friend Ohana (family), love, and the spirit of Aloha! Hawaii was everyone’s favorite duty station, so eating it takes us to the best memories!”
she shares
Lynette and her husband Scott have been married for 23 years and together have three children – Christopher (19), Robert (14) and Emilia (9).
“My husband served in the Army for 27 years. During that span, we had the opportunity to live in many different places,” shared Lynette. “We have lived in Germany, Virginia twice, Texas, Kansas twice, Washington, Hawaii, and Florida twice. It was an amazing adventure! We feel blessed to have met so many wonderful friends along the way.”
In 2019, when Scott retired, the Davidson family decided to settle in Gulf Breeze to be near family and enjoy the close proximity to the beach. While the family still loves to travel and explore, they truly enjoy their little piece of paradise.
“I am sharing the recipe for Kalua Pork, which is Hawaiian-style pulled pork,” Lynette said. In Hawaii, the whole pig is traditionally cooked underground and served at Luaus and big family celebrations. However, in this version of the recipe, the pork is cooked in the crock pot, and instead of banana leaves, I use aluminum foil.”
This recipe was given to Lynette by a friend while the family was stationed in Hawaii. She was their neighbor and passed this recipe on when she learned how much they enjoyed this Hawaiian favorite.
“I wanted to share it because it is simple, easy, and easy to remember,” said Lynette. “It also feeds a small army!
Leftovers can be used for other great meals like pork nachos, pork quesadillas, tacos, pulled pork sandwiches, and more.”
Kalua Pork
Ingredients:
- 3-4 lbs. pork shoulder
- 2 TBSP kosher salt or Hawaiian sea salt
- 2 TBSP liquid smoke
- 5 garlic cloves
Directions:
- Spread aluminum foil on the counter. Use enough to be able to wrap the shoulder in it tightly.
- Place shoulder on aluminum foil fat side down. Rub salt, garlic and pour liquid smoke over it.
- Wrap tightly. We don’t want any water to seep in once its in the crock pot.
- Place in crock pot then fill crock pot with water only half way up the pork.
- Slow cook overnight or 8+ hours on low setting.
- After 8 hours have passed (the longer the better) remove wrapped pork from crock pot.
- Drain the water used to cook the pork from the crock. Then transfer wrapped pork back into the crock and remove the foil.
- Let the juices flow into the crock then shred the tender pork.
- Let it simmer in its own juices for about 30 minutes.
- Enjoy!
** I like to serve the pork with white rice or Hawaiian rolls if anyone wants to eat as sliders. Also fresh pineapple, shredded slaw salad and/or macaroni salad.
