Kalua Pork with Cabbage in a Slow Cooker

"Kalua Pork with Cabbage," from Make It Like a Man!

Part of the Make It Like a Man! crew – the part I’m married to – and I recently went to Hawaii. We had Kalua Pork with Cabbage on The Big Island, unconditionally loved it, and quizzed the staff about how to make it. They gave us just the essentials. We used them to scour the internet looking for recipes that seemed in line with their crucial elements, and used all that info to construct one of our own.

This is terrific, unassuming, unadorned comfort food. It’s so powerfully good that it’s very hard to have just one serving. However, it’s so filling that one serving is plenty.

What you’ll need for 12 servings:

6 lbs boneless pork butt roast
1½ Tbs coarse sea salt, plus more to taste
2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
¾ tsp ground ginger
1 Tbs + 1 tsp liquid smoke
1¾ tsp soy sauce, plus more to taste
1¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 small head of cabbage
Rice, for serving

How to do it:

  1. If the pork has been trussed, remove the string. Nestle the pork into a slow cooker.  Mix the salt, pepper, and ginger together. Sprinkle half of it over the pork, and rub it all over. Turn the pork over, sprinkle remaining salt mixture, and rub it all over. Mix the smoke, soy, and Worcestershire together. Pour half of it over the pork. Use a large serving fork to poke into the pork all over, hoping to drive some of the seasoning into it. Turn the pork over and repeat with remaining smoke mixture.
  2. Cook on low until the pork falls apart effortlessly: 17 hours, turning once at the half-way-through point.
  3. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and defat the liquid. Return the pork to the slow cooker and carefully shred it as much as possible with the grain; as best you can, avoid tearing it across the grain. Pour the defatted liquid over the pork and gently turn the mixture with a large, sturdy spoon. Use the spoon to remove as much liquid as needed, in order to leave the pork wet but not soupy. Defat this removed liquid and pour it into a large saucepot. Set aside.
"Kalua Pork with Cabbage," from Make It Like a Man!
  1. Core and cube the cabbage. Add it to the saucepot. Cover, and cook over a medium-high flame until the cabbage is tender but still retains a bite: about 8 minutes, stirring on occasion. Taste for seasoning, adding soy sauce and/or salt if necessary. Strain the liquid from the cabbage and reserve it in case you need any for individual servings or for leftovers. Distribute the cabbage over the pork. Turn the slow cooker onto the “warm” setting until ready to serve. Traditionally, this dish is served with two scoops of white rice alongside it.

Notes:

Recipe may be halved easily.

If you can’t seem to set your slow cooker for anything more than 8 hours – which is the unfortunate case with Jeff the Chef’s big-ass, Cuisinart war machine – you may have to check in with it at least once to reset its program.

Let’s talk about liquid smoke for a minute. Is it an evil brew of chemicals designed to taste like smoke … in other words, is it an artificial flavoring? Turns out, it’s not. It actually is “distilled” smoke, or smoke vapor dissolved in water via condensation. Does that make it any better for you than industrial chemicals? Good question. As you may know, wood smoke contains proven carcinogens. What you may not know is that the carcinogens are largely not water soluble, but the flavorful elements in smoke are. This makes it possible to separate the two for the most part, leaving liquid smoke harmless in the small amounts typically used for cooking. Of note, any carcinogenic elements that do make it into a bottle of liquid smoke are heavier than the rest of the contents of the bottle and will sink to the bottom over time. You should not shake a bottle of liquid smoke before dispensing it. Let sediment that might be at the bottom stay there. (McGee 2004, 449-450)

You can nix the cabbage if you like; kalua pork is often served with or without it. Although I’ve read that the purpose of the cabbage is to stretch the meal, I feel that it contributes to a decidedly juicier mouthfeel.

Traditional wisdom says that this pork should have burned in the slow cooker, or at the least cooked unevenly, because it starts out with almost no liquid. That isn’t the case. You will get bits of caramelization on parts of the pork, which is exactly what you want.

"Kalua Pork with Cabbage," from Make It Like a Man!
Kalua Pork with Cabbage in a Slow Cooker

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. We wish to express our thanks to Kesor.

In preparing this post, we were inspired by two All Recipes posts: Kalua Pig in a Slow Cooker, and Homestyle Kalua Pork with Cabbage in a Slow Cooker. Kalua pig, as it turns out, is not made with Kahlúa. I know, we were disappointed, too. We were hoping Kalua pig meant “drink Kahlúa until you get real sloppy.” “Kalua,” without the H and the fancy Ú, is actually a method of cooking in an underground oven. Again, we were hoping that meant cooking in an oven in the spare kitchen that you have in your finished basement, but alas we were once again wrong. In the end, what we created is something that tastes like Kalua pig, without the burden of having to dig a pit in the backyard.

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52 thoughts on “Kalua Pork with Cabbage in a Slow Cooker

  1. Really good info on smoke. I never liked the flavor, but I did assume it was a bottle of carcinogenic liquid. Regarding Kalua pork, I remember googling for a recipe years ago, or maybe even before the internet, looking in cookbooks, but I was looking for kahlua pork. Not exactly the same thing! 🙄 It’s important to get the spelling right! Great recipe, and I love it with the cabbage.
    Mimi recently posted…Raisin Bread Stuffing with Cranberries

  2. This does sound like comfort! Of course I’d be more comfortable eating it in Hawaii! I have always used liquid smoke, but had no idea not to shake it. I better get to Hawaii to cure myself!

    • I would consider the trip medically necessary. I think it should be covered by insurance. 😉

  3. Those crispy nubbins are the best part! So this recipe sounds fantastic from start to finish – and it’s a slow cooker dealio. Sign me up! However, in all honesty, I was hoping you had dug a hole in the ground and cooked your pork shoulder there. Next time? I’ll help you dig! Also, great tip on liquid smoke. I’ve noticed the sediments at the bottom of our bottle, but now I know what they are.
    David @ Spiced recently posted…Blue Heat Baked Chicken Wings

  4. What a great dish for our wintery weather! And how wonderful that you were able to discover it in Hawaii! Love trying to recreate recipes from our trips too.
    What a coincidence, I just learned that liquid smoke wasn’t chemicals too!
    Eva Taylor recently posted…Orange Olive Oil Cake

  5. I love this recipe! It seems very simple and anything slow cooked is fantastic! Thank you for the info on the liquid smoke. It’s not very common here in Australia but I do always keep a bottle in the pantry and wondered whether it was all chemicals. (I don’t use it a lot but I put a little in my sausage rolls recipe). Glad to hear I can keep using it!

    • I was glad to read about liquid smoke, too. I’m glad you liked the recipe!

  6. What a great dish! I really like pork and cabbage together — that pair of ingredients star in so many great dishes. This dish is new to me, and I like it. Will definitely be making it. And liquid smoke is good stuff — took me awhile to wrap my head around the idea that it wasn’t some weird industrial concoction, though.
    John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup

    • It was new to me, too – and I really loved it. Very down-to-earth, not fancy, but deep down comfort foody.

    • You have to get a little off the beaten path to find it. It’s more local that touristy. But it’d be awesome if she did have some while she was there!

  7. Oh wow, I must have missed this Kalua Pork with Cabbage when I was in Hawaii a couple of years ago! At least I won’t have to go back to taste it now that you’ve given us the recipe here. Thanks Jeff!
    Neil recently posted…Easy Mixed Vegetable Curry

    • You know, I wouldn’t say that I’m a slow-cooker devotee, but it is fun to use on occasion.

    • Yeah, it feeds an army, that’s for sure. And yeah, pork butt. It is funny that that’s what it’s called. But if you’re going to be carnivorous, you might as well not pretty it up.

  8. Such a delicious, comforting meal. I had this in Hawaii, too, and fell in love with it. I’m inspired to try it now. 🙂 ~Valentina

  9. Jeff, I’ve seen a few recipes for this pork but the cabbage! That makes it a meal and I can just imagine how wonderful it is cooked in all that iiquidy pork goodness!! I do use liquid smoke in things from time to time but I was never aware of not shaking the bottle. I don’t think I ever have shaken mine, it must be close to 5 years old and still smells and tastes as potent as ever but that’s so good to know.

    Love your sense of humor!!

    Mollie
    frugal hausfrau recently posted…Easy Tomato Ravioli Soup

  10. This looks and sounds fantastic! I absolutely love being inspired in the kitchen by meals enjoyed when traveling. Liquid smoke has got to be one of my favorite ingredients. So interesting about its composition, and now I know not to shake the bottle!

  11. I love Kalua pork and have forgotten to cook this dish over Summer. This looks perfect for Autumn dining and I love the addition of liquid smoke and cabbage. Just full of flavour and texture.
    Merryn recently posted…Fritto Misto di Mare

  12. Silly me, when I read the title of the blog post I thought: a pork and cabbage with Mexican liqueur? Now that sounds unusual!

    Anyway, the actual recipe sound perfect for the cold weather we’ve been having lately. Isn’t it funny how tropical places produce some great hearty dishes, the kind we’d tend to think of as winter dishes? A lot of Central American food, for example, is really hearty. Most actually. I was really surprised the first time I visited the region.
    Frank Fariello recently posted…Cipollata calabrese (Calabrian Style Braised Red Onions)

  13. We love the cabbage and pork combination in my house. I have never actually cooked with liquid smoke, I will have to try it! Thank you for sharing about the importance of leaving any sediment in the bottle at the bottom because I probably would shake it up!
    Marcelle recently posted…Easy Hot Fudge Cake

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