STEAMED LAULAU
Laulau is a 'ono hawaiian dish. It was often prepared for special occasions like parties and many celebrations.
Prep Time: 20- 30 min.
Cook Time: 8 -10 hrs.
Ingredients per LauLau:
3-5 pieces 1 inch cubed pork butt or pork shoulder meat
(Other meats i.e. – chicken, deer or Vegetarian Substitutes can be made)
Pinch of Hawaiian Rock Salt (Course Sea Salt if no access to Hawaiian Rock Salt)
Additional Ingredients – Taro, Fish, etc. (Optional)
3-5 Taro Leaves
Aluminum Foil (if Ti Leaves not available)
Banana Leaves (Optional)
Preparation:
Clean , cut out leaf veins and destem Taro Leaves
(If you leave the stems on, make sure to cook for a longer period of time, under cooked taro leave stems
and vein will cause your mouth and throat to be scratchy and irritated)
Put 3-5 Taro Leaves in a pile on the palm of your hand, add your meat & other ingredient choices placing
them in the middle of the leaves. Bundle the leaves into a ball covering up all ingredients and place into
a square sheet of banana leaf (optional) and wrap up aluminum foil into a tear drop. You are now ready
to cook your LauLau. (See images below)
Cooking:
Place your prepared laulau into a steamer or an instant pot, add water and cook. Cooking times will vary
based on steamer or instant pot. Cook in the steamer 8 to 10 hours (longer is better). Just make sure to
keep refilling the water from time to time. In an instant pot, cooking time is approximately 45 -60
minutes. When cooking your laulau, make sure the pork is tender and the leaves are cooked long
enough so you don’t end up with an irritated throat (due to under cooking leaves)
