While vacationing on the Big Island of Hawaii a couple of years ago having a cocktail on the balcony of my hotel room. I noticed that there was some smoke coming from a pit in the ground with a few people gathered around. I thought that is should go and investigate because where there is smoke there is certainly fire. I found out that they were getting ready to cook the kalua pig for the luau and was delighted to witness them prepping the imu (Hawaiian BBQ pit). You see, I have always been a big fan of kalua pig.
As they were making the coals and heating up the rocks I asked them how they cooked the meat. This interested me because growing up my father would barbecue meat in a pit (but that’s a whole other post). What I learned was that they cook not so much with the coals as they do with the heated rock and the steam that is created from the vegetation that they add into the Imu. There are enough coals in the cooking process to add a nice smoky flavor to the meat. I asked them what kind of wood they were using and they told me it was kiawe, the Hawaiian equivalent of mesquite. So, as with anything, a little information in the wrong hands can become quite deadly.
Afterward I researched recipes for kalua pig, but most of the ones that I came across called for a Crock Pot and the use of liquid smoke. That just wasn’t going to work for me, seeing how I own a smoker and all. So here is what I did…