Luau Pork Shoulders in “La Caja China” Roasting Box
Part 2 of the “La Caja China” Roasting box. Recipe from “La Caja China Cooking” by Perry P. Perkins
A luau is a Hawaiian feast that often features food such as poi, kalua pig, poke, and lomi salmon; as well as entertainment, such as Hawaiian music and hula. Among people from Hawaii, the concepts of “luau” and “party” are often blended, resulting in graduation luaus, wedding luaus, and birthday luaus. It is customary for Hawaii families, regardless of ethnicity, to hold a luau to celebrate a child's first birthday. In Polynesian cultures (and in Korean culture), the first birthday is considered a major milestone. When I learned this on my first trip to the Islands, shortly before my daughter was born, I fell in love with the idea, and decided that Gracie's first birthday (and as many as possible, following) would be a traditional luau.
Of course, owning La Caja China Model #2 made this a pretty easy decision!So, for my little girl’s first birthday Luau, I roasted four pork shoulders (around six pounds each) in La Caja China, and the results were amazing! The party menu was luau pork, sticky rice, fresh baked Hawaiian rolls, and fruit salad. We even had an auntie provide a delicious tropical punch to wash it all down! All of these recipes can be found easily (except the punch, but you can shoot me an email for that), with a Google search, so I am just going to focus on the meat…I am sure you're okay with that. After bringing the pork shoulders to room temperature, I used a sharp knife to score the fat cap, rubbed them with coarse sea salt, and then brushed each with liquid smoke. If you are a “smoke purist” don't freak out (I’m one too,) but liquid smoke is how they do it in Hawaii. With La Caja China’s electric smoker attachment (which I now have) I am looking forward to taking a more “bbq approved” approach to this recipe, this summer! Next, I wrapped each shoulder loosely in banana leaves (I could not find Ti leaves,) tied them up with kitchen string, and then wrapped them in foil.
I placed each of the shoulders in a disposable pan, and roasted them in La Caja China for about six hours. Looking back, I think the pans were a waste of time, and I will stick to using just the racks next time. We started the box with 16lbs of coals and basically just followed the Pork Shoulder Roast Work Sheet, from La Caja China’s website, word for word. After about five hours, when I could not withstand the mouth-watering aroma wafting from my Cuban box any longer, I lifted the lid, unwrapped the shoulders, and peeled back the banana leaves to let the fat get crispy for the last half-hour. After letting the pork rest for about a half an hour (despite the grumblings of my guests,) I chopped up the shoulders and then mixed the meat with a wash of ¼ cup liquid smoke, 4 cups hot water, 1/4 cup Adobo Criollo spices, and 2 Tbs seasoned salt. (Btw, I really think that the “spice & smoke” wash made the pork much more flavorful. I’ve tried it both ways, and this was the big winner!)
After letting the meat rest another 15 minutes, the remaining liquid had been soaked up, and the luau pork was ready to be served.This was a darned good thing, as I was already fighting off an “appreciative” crowd with my spatula and tongs!The “oohs and ahhs” quickly gave way to a famished silence, punctuated only by lip-smacking, and the occasional groan and exclamation of joy. Note to self: Next time set some of that crispy skin aside, or sell it off at a premium!
I have cooked many a pork shoulder in my oven, more in my smoker and, while all were appreciated, not garnered the acclaim that these did.Seriously, La Caja China is THE way to do luau pork. In retrospect, I would leave out the disposable pans, as I mentioned, and just wrap a single banana leaf around each shoulder for flavor, leaving the ends open. The pork took a little longer to cook that the instructions called for, and I think the combination of these two things make it harder for the “heat to get to the meat.” I’ve never had my guests be all that interested in my kettle bbq, or my smoker, but every person wandered over to ask about my “Caja.” It was a great “conversation starter,” especially after folks got a taste of what it could do, and I never could have cooked for this big of a crowd without it. Just a slight second to my beautiful little girl, La Caja China was the toast of the luau!
Aloha! Let's face it, anyone with some basic grill-skill can cook up some burgers and dogs, a good summertime griller can throw down a tender steak, or juicy hunk of chicken, and there are always one or two backyard pit-masters in the group who can smoke a great pork shoulder or brisket. I can tell you from experience, however…when you pull a whole hog out of La Caja China, steaming and golden, the skin crisped to salty perfection, tender, juicy white meat falling off the bone…you become a legend.
Perry has written for hundreds of magazines, and his inspirational stories have been included in twelve Chicken Soup anthologies. His writing includes the novels Just Past Oysterville, and Shoalwater Voices, as well as his cookbooks: The Shoalwater Cookbook, La Caja China Cooking, and his latest collection of international roasting box recipes, La Caja China World. Perry blathers on foodie topics at www.burninloveblog.com, and you can follow him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/BurninLoveBBQ . If you are interested in purchasing any model of La Caja China, accessories, or have any questions, please contact Perry at perry@burninloveblog.com
