With this genius grill hack, you can serve tender, juicy Hawaiian-style pork for a crowd, minus the hassle of digging a hole in your backyard as traditional recipes demand.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 10 hr 45 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 10 to 12 servings |
Ingredients
- One 10-pound bone-in pork shoulder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- One 16-ounce package frozen banana leaves, thawed
- 16 ounces shredded coleslaw mix
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 Fresno chiles, seeded and sliced
- 2 medium mangos, finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 medium bunches scallions, white and light green parts chopped
- 1 pineapple, finely diced (about 2 cups)
- Kosher salt
- Two 12-count packages Hawaiian sweet rolls or potato dinner rolls, split
Instructions
- For the pork: Season the pork shoulder generously with salt and pepper. Lay the pork in the middle of a banana leaf and wrap the leaf around it. Rotate the pork a quarter turn and wrap with another leaf. Repeat with the remaining leaves. Wrap with heavy-duty foil twice to make sure it is completely encased. Line the bottom of an 8- to 10-quart cast-iron Dutch oven with a cast-iron lid with a damp paper towel. Put the pork on the paper towel and cover with the lid. Set aside.
- Fill a charcoal chimney completely full with charcoal and light it. Once it is lit and starting to ash over, carefully move the chimney to a heatproof surface. Remove the top grilling rack of a kettle-style charcoal grill (you will not need it for grilling). Put the Dutch oven in the middle of the bottom grate of the grill. Put unlit charcoal pieces all around the Dutch oven and then empty the chimney on top of it. Using metal tongs, spread out the hot coals so they are on top of the Dutch oven as well as all around the sides (depending on the size of your grill you may need to add another chimney full of charcoal). Keep the grill uncovered and fully vented for 10 to 15 minutes to get the unlit coals started. Then put the lid on and close the bottom and top vents about 90% of the way. Cook the pork, checking every so often to make sure the grill is still hot and the temperature is hovering around 250 degrees F (add more lit charcoal as needed to maintain temperature), until completely tender, about 10 hours.
- For the coleslaw: Meanwhile, combine the coleslaw mix with the rice vinegar, chiles, mango, scallions, pineapple and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and refrigerate while the pork cooks, at least 2 hours. You can also prepare the slaw the day before.
- Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the ashes. Remove the lid and use scissors to cut an X through the top of the foil and banana leaves, all the way to the meat. Shred the meat with 2 forks, season with salt and pepper and toss to combine the meat with the juices.
- Sandwich some pork and coleslaw between the split rolls and secure with luau-inspired toothpicks.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 802 |
| Total Fat | 55 g |
| Saturated Fat | 18 g |
| Carbohydrates | 23 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 13 g |
| Protein | 51 g |
| Cholesterol | 203 mg |
| Sodium | 1238 mg |
Reviews
I make something similar to this, but use my charcoal smoker and smoke the shoulder for 10-12 hours. First, use Hawaiian red alea salt. You can easily order this online. You need to have a heavy hand with the salt and pepper since it is a lot of meat and very little seasonings. Second, stud the pork with garlic, then wrap it in the banana leaves. If you are using a grill/smoker, you will need some patience.
If you can’t find banana leaves, you can order those online too, or ask your grocer. Sometimes I find fresh ones in the produce isle, and you can freeze the unused leaves in a plastic bag separate by parchment / wax paper.
Instead of kosher salt use the Hawaiian salt
Did not work. It ruined our meat and burned it into black dust.
I would say check your meat at 2 to 3 hours. Maybe it would be ready in2 to 3 hours. At 6 hours ours was ruined. FAIL
I think it’s amazingly complicated for such a simple outcome. I can’t imagine anyone going through that much torture for some pulled pork.
However, love the ingredients, and will make it my own.
However, love the ingredients, and will make it my own.
This could be done in an oven since the meat is wrapped in foil and the lid is on the dutch oven- no smoke can even get to the meat. So why go through all the work of the grill/smoker?
I don’t have a charcoal grill. Would this work in an electric smoker? I.e., wrap in banana leaves, then in foil, and place in the smoker.
I can’t find the banana leafs either
Instead of kosher salt, use Alaea Hawaiian salt. This can also be easily adapted for the slow cooker.
Where did you find banana leaves??
It was great