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Kalua Pork Instant Pot

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 155kcal

Ingredients

  • 4-6 pounds pork shoulder or butt (note 1)
  • 1 Tablespoon liquid smoke
  • 2-3 teaspoons fine grain red Hawaiian sea salt or coarse Kosher salt (note 2 + 3 + 4)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cabbage cored + cut into 6 wedges
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Rinse pork (4-6 pounds) and pat completely dry with paper towels. Carefully stab pork all over, either with a fork or the tip of a knife.
  • Measure your salt, (see note 3) you'll use 1 teaspoon of fine grained salt per 2 pounds of meat. Pour liquid smoke (1 tablespoon) over the pork, followed by an even sprinkle of sea salt (2-3 teaspoons).
  • Place trivet in the instant pot, and pour water (1 cup) in. Place meat on the trivet. Cover the instant pot with your lid and make sure the pressure release valve is set to "seal". Select high pressure, and cook the pork for 90 minutes.
  • Once done cooking, turn the pressure release valve to "venting" to naturally release the pressure, this should take about 20 minutes. Once the pin drops, carefully remove the lid. Check that the pork is incredibly tender -- it should easily fall apart with a fork. If not, you can cook it for 5-10 more minutes until it gets there.
  • Remove pork to a large bowl.
  • Place cabbage (1) in the instant pot, and seal with the lid. Make sure the pressure release valve is set to "seal". Cook on high pressure for 2-5 minutes (2 for smaller, 5 for a larger head of cabbage). Once done cooking, turn pressure release valve to venting. When the pin drops, remove the lid.
  • While the cabbage is cooking and once the pork is cool enough to handle, shred using 2 forks.
  • Pour the cooking liquid into a liquid measuring cup, then pour some over the meat, and toss to coat -- the meat should look juicy! (Psst - Be sure to save this liquid, you'll want to toss your reheated leftovers in it before reheating.) Taste and adjust salt level to your liking (see note 4, I usually add an additional teaspoon of salt here) Serve with steamed cabbage, and enjoy!

Notes

  1. Pork shoulder vs. butt - you can use either here. Pork butt is typically more marbled but shoulder is also delicious
  2. Red Hawaiian sea salt can be found on Amazon. The best replacement for this is coarse Kosher salt, as Hawaiian sea salt is lower in sodium by (typically) 10-15%.
  3. Amount of salt - use 1 teaspoon of fine grained salt per 2 pounds of meat. So, for 4 pounds use 2, for 5 pounds, use 2 1/2, and for 6 pounds use 3.
  4. Salt to finish - I typically like to add more salt to our kalua pig, at the end, once it's been shredded and tossed in the cooking liquid. I usually add at least 1 additional teaspoon. To air on the side of not over salting your meat, I suggest starting with the salt rec above and increasing on the finish to your taste.

Nutrition

Calories: 155kcal | Total Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 7g | Sodium: 475mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Net Carbs: 2g

Delicious recipe from Lindsey Hyland // www.thelittlepine.com