Okay so I cheated. For dinner tonight I wasn't feeling incredibly creative so I fell back on an old stand-bye, Kalua Pig which is soooo yummy! Instead of taking the time to wrap a whole pig in banana leaves and digging a giant whole in the ground to cook it, I just rub a large pork roast in liquid smoke then sprinkle with Hawaiin finishing salt (red or pink will do, but I prefer pink) and pop it in the crock pot. Cook it on high for 8 hours or so and wa-la....beautiful pulled pork style, Kalua pig. To accompany the pork we made white rice finished with coconut cream and Shannon-Style Kimchi. While Kimchi is traditionally from Korea, the Hawaiins eat it in profusion especially with pork. Obviously I didn't have 2 weeks to pickle cabbage so instead I braised my cabbage, cut into bite-size pieces, in vegetable stock till mostly tender then rinsed under cool water. The sauce... 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp fish sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, a good shake of chili pepper flakes, a dash of salt, 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tbl of rice vinegar and 1 tbl of Sriracha hot chili sauce. Honestly, I didn't measure any of this stuff, I just poured it in and adjusted to taste really how I cook most times. So while you didn't get that great fermented/pickled flavor that you do with real kimchi, it was a decent substitute. If it were just Tom and I eating, I would have definately used more hot sauce and made it spicier, but all-in-all I really liked it. The sweetness of the coconut was delicious with the spiciness of the kimchi and the smokiness of the pork. Those Hawaiins know what they're doing :)
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