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Cooking a Whole Pig Hawaiian Kalua Style
By Pig on a Spit - May 20, 2008 |
 
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Full instructions for creating an Imu pit and cooking a whole pig Kalua or Hawaiian style.
You will need the following to cook the Kalua Pig:
1 whole dressed pig.
5 handfuls of coarse salt.
About a 4 ft. sqare piece of chicken wire.
12 burlap bags (Burlap, commonly known as Hessian cloth, is a coarse woven fabric usually made from jute or hemp and allied vegetable fibers.
Ample dry hardwood firewood.
About 50 round, porous stones.
24 banana leaves OR 6 to 8 dozen large Ti (Ki) leaves (The Ti plant is closely associated with Polynesia, its leaves were used to thatch the roofs of houses, and to wrap and store food. The leaves are about 4 inches wide and 1 to 2 feet long.)
4 banana tree trunks.
Directions to make the Imu or underground oven:
Dig a hole about 4 to 5 feet long by 3 feet wide and 2 - 3 feet deep, actual size will of course depend on the size of the pig you are cooking.
Lay kindling (small firewood) in the bottom of the pit (Imu).
Place a long stick about 3 to 4 inches in diameter upright in the center of the pit and lay some more firewood around it using good quality hardwood firewood that burns hot but slowly.
Cover this firewood with the round, porous stones.
Make a lighter by wrapping some rag around end of a long thin stick and apply some in kerosene to the rag. Remove the upright center pole and light the kindling through the hole using the firestick. Burn till the firewood turns into nice hot glowing coals, at this stage the stones should be very hot.
Preparing the Kalua Pig:
Slit the whole pig between shoulders and ribs to backbone and up to head, but do not to cut through the pigs skin.
Rub one handful of the coarse salt in the slits and rub 4 handfuls of the salt inside of the pig carcasse.
Place the hot stones in slits and the abdomen, as many as you can fit into the pig, then tie the 4 legs tightly together.
Line the piece of chicken wire with the ti leaves and place the pig onto it. Then cover all the hot stones in the imu pit with the 4 banana trunks that have been cut into pieces around 2 feet long and crushed flat.
Lay the netting containing your pig onto the banana trunks, then cover with the banana or ti leaves.
Now you will need to completely cover the Imu with the burlap or hessian bags and cover the bags with sand.
Allow the whole pig to cook for around 2 1/2 to 3 hours according to its size.
When the pig is done remove all the sand, bags, leaves, and stones from inside pig.
Place the pig on a large serving container on a table and serve immediately while steaming hot.
This page is from our Cook Pork Underground category.
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