We LOVE the 50 nifty United States of this awesome country and believe each state is special. Every Monday we feature a sandwich unique to its state as part of our “50 Sandwiches, 50 States, 50 Weeks” series beginning with Alabama and ending with Wyoming.
Next destination: Hawaii!! Woohoo! Raise your hand if you’ve ever been to Hawaii. Unfortunately, my hand is down. This is a place that I want, very badly, to visit. It seems so exotic, some far away place, a place much different than Upstate, NY. Don’t get me wrong… Upstate rocks! But it’s nice to change things up a bit every now and then, eh? And I think Hawaii would be perfect for that!
Hawaii was another one of those states we were a little unsure as to what we should make so we decided on pork and pineapple. It’s only been a couple of weeks since we made the Florida Cuban using a pork butt which we slow cooked in the crock pot, but it’s so dang good, so pulled pork it is! I could eat pulled pork weekly. So easy and tasty. And pork with pineapple and homemade BBQ sauce? Um, yes, please! You can sub your favorite BBQ for the homemade, but I urge you to try the homemade!
While the pork was doing its thing in the crock pot, Gary made these gorgeous Hawaiian Rolls from the Midnight Baker to use as the sandwich bread. Whoa! These are great! Sweet and fluffy. It took everything in me not to eat the whole pan. in 5 minutes.
And the pineapple relish…. it brings it all together. I could eat this on it’s own. It’s been awhile since I’ve had pineapple and I forgot how much I like it! It’s so easy as I used canned pineapple and the other ingredients add bursts of delicious contrasting flavors! You could use fresh pineapple, you’ll just need to add a little sugar to taste.
So let’s recap, shall we? Slow cooked pork butt with homemade BBQ sauce and pineapple, sweet Hawaiian Rolls, and pineapple relish. Yes, please. I’ll have another! This is one ‘ono (that’s Hawaiian for delicious) sandwich!
- 1 (4 lb.) pork butt
- 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple
- 1 recipe of Hawaiian Rolls or other sweet rolls
- 1 Tbsp. paprika
- 2 tsps. each salt, black pepper, garlic powder
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp. each salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano, chili powder
- 2 (20 oz.) cans chopped pineapple, drained, chopped a little
- ⅓ cup red onion, minced
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 fresh jalapeno, seeded, minced
- 2 Tbps. lime juice
- ¼ tsp. salt
- Sprinkle pork with rub spices and massage into all areas of the pork butt. Place pork it in the crock pot.
- Mix the BBQ sauce ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the crushed pineapple with its juice and mix well.
- Pour sauce into the crock pot over the meat and spread around. Cover and cook on low 8 hours.
- About 10 minutes before the pork is ready, make the pineapple relish by combining all ingredients and set aside.
- When the pork is done, place on a cutting board and shred with 2 forks, discarding the fat. Add a little sauce from the shredded crock pot to the pork and mix together.
- Place a heaping pile of the pork on the rolls and top with the relish.
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