Hawaiian · Dinner

Kālua pork and cabbage

Name: Kālua pork and cabbage
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 5 h
Total time: 5 h 45 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Hawaiian
Ingredients: 1 bone-in pork shoulder, 5 to 6 pounds; 1 tablespoon coarse Hawaiian sea salt or kosher salt; 1 1/2 teaspoons natural mesquite liquid smoke; 4 food-safe banana leaves, rinsed and dried; 1 cup water; 1 large green cabbage, cored and cut into 1-inch ribbons; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 6 cups hot cooked Calrose rice

Hawaiian sea-salted pork shoulder slow-steamed in banana leaves until pull-apart tender, then folded with cabbage that keeps a light bite.

About 5 hr 45 minTotal

About 5 hr 25 minActive

$$Cost

ModerateDifficulty

Makes 8 servings

Equipment

Use another sturdy metal roaster; transfer the drippings if it is not stovetop-safe.
Best versatile roasting pan
Cuisinart MultiClad Pro 16-Inch Roasting Pan with Rack · MCPS117-16BRP1
View at Amazon
Another workable path: Use another sturdy metal roaster; transfer the drippings if it is not stovetop-safe.
Paid links. As an Amazon Associate, Kwilt earns from qualifying purchases.
How we chose
Research-backed · reviewed Aug 2026
We matched whole-chicken capacity, removable rack, tri-ply construction, stovetop suitability for pan gravy, current model MCPS117-16BRP1, manufacturer UPC, ownership burden, and exact Amazon identity. Kwilt has not roasted with this pan.
Cuisinart MultiClad Pro 16-Inch Roasting Pan with Rack · MCPS117-16BRP1: The broad stainless cooking surface can move safely from oven to stovetop for the Recipe's pan gravy, while the removable rack and generous capacity also make it useful for larger poultry and roasts. Trade-off: It is expensive, weighs about ten pounds before food, and its wide handles require more oven and cabinet clearance than a basic metal roasting pan.
Another workable path: Use another sturdy, flame-safe metal roasting pan that fits the chicken without crowding; transfer the drippings to a saucepan if the pan is not safe over a burner.
Sources
Cuisinart MCPS117-16BRP1 specifications
Crate & Barrel model and oven-limit specifications
Amazon exact product listing

Ingredients

1× recipe · Makes 8 servings

1 bone-in pork shoulder, 5 to 6 pounds
1 tablespoon coarse Hawaiian sea salt or kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons natural mesquite liquid smoke
4 food-safe banana leaves, rinsed and dried
1 cup water
1 large green cabbage, cored and cut into 1-inch ribbons
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 cups hot cooked Calrose rice

Instructions

Heat oven to 300°F. Pierce pork all over with a paring knife, rub with salt, then liquid smoke. Pass banana leaves briefly over a low flame or hot burner until pliable; wrap pork completely in the leaves.
Set wrapped pork on a rack in a , add water below the rack, and seal the pan tightly with foil. Roast until the bone loosens and a probe meets almost no resistance, 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours, usually around 195 to 205°F.
Rest sealed 20 minutes. Open carefully away from your face, reserve the juices, remove bone and large fat pockets, and shred pork. Return enough defatted juice to keep it moist.
Put cabbage in a wide pot with 1/2 cup reserved pork juice, cover, and steam 4 minutes. Fold in pork and pepper and cook uncovered 2 to 3 minutes, until cabbage is tender with a light bite and excess liquid evaporates. Serve with rice.

HawaiʻiLocal and Native Hawaiian food traditions

From the table

About this recipe

Traditional kālua pig is cooked in an imu, an underground oven central to Native Hawaiian gathering and foodways; the covered household oven method is an explicit adaptation that uses banana leaf, salt, moisture, and smoke flavor to approach its tender texture.

Kālua means cooking in an imu, the Native Hawaiian underground oven. A foil-sealed home oven and liquid smoke can approximate its moist, smoky result but cannot reproduce the communal practice or earth oven; this recipe names that limitation. Banana leaves echo traditional wrapping, while ti leaves are also used in Hawaiʻi and should not be eaten. This Kwilt version follows the reviewed household adaptation: Present the oven version as an honest approximation, using restrained smoke and leaf wrapping while cooking cabbage separately at the end.

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