Aloha Friday: Recipe for Always-a-Winner Slow Cooker Pork Adobo (Origin: Philippines)

Happy Easter

Easter Sunday Feasting in Hawaii: Many families can be found at fabulous Easter buffets put on by hotels and restaurants. Some of the more famous ones include the the mouth-watering spreads on groaning tables at the Prince Hotel, the Kahala Hotel, and the Halekulani Hotel. Many more can be found at family feasts in homes, garages, and beaches around the islands.

This year I'll be making my popular (she said modestly) slow cooker pork adobo. In my wildest and pipest of pipe dreams, I may also make an Asian pasta salad, chayote shrimp dish, mirliton pie, caramel cuts, pumpkin custard, chayote dill pickles, chayote namasu, and chayote pickled mango style.

I tweaked a recipe I found on line for Filipino pork adobo cooked in a slow cooker (from http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/08/slow-cooker-slow-cooked-filipino-pork-with-garlic-fried-rice.html) and it's become one of our most appreciated pot luck gathering dishes. People jostle to take left overs home. Just kidding. People politely wait in line to take all left overs home. We are a civilized country, after all!

Here is my tweaked recipe (which you can feel free to tweak to your liking).

Ingredients

3 to 5 lbs pork butt or shoulder (bone in or boneless)
1 large onion, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 Hawaiian chili peppers (bird peppers), minced - remove seeds if you like it less hot (optional)
1/4 cup minced garlic (I use the bottled minced garlic from COSTCO or Sam's Club)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (can use white vinegar - will be less sweet)
1/2 cup water
9 bay leaves
3/4 Kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
Optional: Slow Cooker Liner

Line slow cooker pot with liner (Reynold's Slow Cooker Liner) if using a liner (highly recommended). Place pork in the slow-cooker with all other ingredients. Cover and set to low heat for 7 hours, turning over half way through cooking. At 6 hours, take lid off and shred pork using two forks. Discard bone. Cover again with lid. Continue slow cooking. About 1/2 hour later, taste, then if desired, flavor to taste by adding more vinegar, salt, brown sugar, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, Hawaiian chili peppers; stir, recover with lid, then let continue slow cooking for the last half hour.

PS Which buffet is my favorite? For food combined with setting: it's gotta be the Sunday buffet at the Halekulani Hotel: