Lilikoi Kālua Pork Sliders with Pineapple BBQ Sauce

Mahalo no kou heluhelu ʻana mai i kēia puke. Okay, so technically that says "Thank you for reading this book", and this is a blog but Eric ever learned the word for "blog", and we figured that this was close enough. Last night we put together the second entry in our Foodbuzz Project Food Blog Challenge. This time around were tasked with tackling a foreign classic, something outside of our comfort zone. We were kicking around ideas on what culture we could tackle and what kind of dish we wanted to prepare and promptly hit some major problems. We were starting to get really frustrated when Eric announced that we would just cook a traditional Hawaiian breakfast. This was meant as a joke because the traditional breakfast in Hawai'i is very basic and involves fried SPAM, something Charisse is just not a fan of. While Eric's Hawaiian breakfast idea didn't fly, it did get us thinking about other Hawaiian foods. It seemed like it would be too easy for us though, since Eric went to college there but lets face it, frozen pizza and Top Ramen is no cuisine (it turns out that college food is truly universal). We kicked around different kinds of dishes that are native to the islands, and found that about half of them involve SPAM, but hit on a few possibilities, one being Kālua pork and the very mention of it set Eric salivating. This is the Luau pork, traditionally cooked by digging a big hole in the ground, having a nice fire then burying a whole pig in there for a few hours. Eric ran and got the shovel and Charisse,  the voice of reason, reminded him that burning the neighborhood down is not the best way to make friends, so we used a more practical approach, our oven.  
One of the things that gives the Kālua pork such a unique flavor is the Alaea salt. This is a large grain sea salt that is drawn from the red clay native to the islands. This clay is a huge source of various minerals and adds a real earthy tone. To sweeten the meat we wrapped it in a large banana leaf which added more flavor and helped retain the pork's moisture (the leafs actually added way more moisture than the meat had to start with, a huge plus). Banana leaf? Alaea salt? Not going to find these at Safeway, at least not one in San Jose. We ended up going to three different Asian markets trying to track everything down and that was an adventure in and of itself. The trip took us almost 3 hours, and practically drove Charisse nuts. Okay, the part that drove Charisse nuts wasn't the fact that we couldn't read any of the packaging nor was it the fact that we really stood out, but Eric's complete in-ability to focus on the task at hand. He wanted to stop and look at everything and half the time was to excited to remember what it was he was looking for. We also picked up what we needed for the Lilikoi BBQ sauce and Pineapple slaw. 
 We enjoyed the smell of roasting pig for over 3 hours, and we should have opened it in a pan because a river a juice hit the floor, something we're not used too with meat! We were pretty worried that we'd screwed up and ruined the pork, but when we pulled a piece off, we knew we had a winner. This pork is sweet and earthy, like nothing else we've ever had. The banana leaves impart just enough sweetness and the salt brings that sense of Hawai'i style earthiness, which is something you'll get if you've ever been there, if you haven't been there, its the off season now, so flights are cheap! We tossed the pork in a Lilikoi Pinapple BBQ sauce and topped it with a Pineapple coleslaw on a taro sweet roll (also at the Asian market). This was the closest we've gotten to tasting Hawai'i since we were there last, and if you've never been there, this is what your missing! 

Pork Loin with Brandy Peppercorn Sauce

This week, Eric celebrated his new job in Sunnyvale, which is a really big deal over here in Petruno land. When we lived in San Francisco, Eric's job was a solid 15 minute walk away. He had lots of opportunity ahead of him and things were good. Then, there was that whole "economy" thing, his start up became part of a bigger corporation, and we had the opportunity to get a house back down in San Jose. When we moved down the commute once measured in blocks (and not that many of them) was measured in miles. 55.9 to be exact and 15 minutes turned into 3+ hours a day. With the economy where it was, finding another job was in the "not gonna happen" box and so Eric commuted from 5:30am until 6:30pm 5 days a week. A few weeks ago, he was offered a new job in Sunnyvale and the rejoicing lasted nearly 2 weeks. Among the festivities was this pork loin, which turned out to be something we really need to make again. It also turned out to be not enough but that probably would have happened no matter how much we made of "The other white meat". Actually, Eric can't stand that slogan. The tagline that has doggedly followed pork around since 1987 not only wrongly labels the meat as "white meat" but it is giving it a good left handed complement. By implying that it is just an alternative for when your tired of the real thing, something that is just as good. Pork, for all intents and purposes is a moist, deliciously flavorful meat that at our house is a first choice come dinner. Eric would probably have it as first, second and third choices if he could have his way, but Charisse usually insists on other things on the plate besides meat. Go figure.

Potato Chip Crusted Pork Chops

Growing up one of Eric's most common meal was Shake N Bake pork chops and rice. It was quick, easy and tastes pretty good when your 8 years old. As you grow up, tastes tend to mature, what is appealing changes and what was good growing up seems childish. Somewhere in there theres a turning point, a longing for something reminds us of a so called "simpler time", when everything was easier, colors are warmer and everything has that warm and fuzzy feeling about it. Never-mind that it was never actually that simple, and that warm fuzzy feeling is just a trick of the mind and those pork chops always seemed to turn out burnt. There is always something to that desire to recreate the tastes and flavors one remembers enjoying as a child, so when Eric was feeling somewhat nostalgic one day (as usually happens when its time to pay bills, and we remember when this was our parents problem, and not ours!) the flavor of Shake N Bake pork just wouldn't leave his mind, so he decided to defrost some pork chops. Well we don't generally do boxed, pre-made foods, we strive for natural and home made whenever possible, so this posed a small problem, Shake N Bake is most definitely "boxed and unnatural". Something about not knowing or being able to pronounce half the ingredients on the back of a box gives us the heebie-jeebies. 


Keeping this in mind, Charisse took stock of what we did have and pulled out a bag of Kettle Chips, which would make a perfect breading for the chops. We really like this company because the most complicated word under ingredients is "dehydrated". With the spices we added, the flavors were very similar, but healthier and more natural. Next time, we'll probably use BBQ chips, and give it that extra kick. 
Pictures and Recipe after the break...