Week #11:Hawaii - Polynesian Pineapple & Pork Pizza

On Udi's Gluten-Free Crust

State: Hawaii

So I have never been to Hawaii before and I do not know the culture.  I could have took the easy way out and did a Papa John’s style Hawaiian pizza, but that is not how locals would make their pizza’s in the state.  Upon my researching of the state, Hawaii has so many different ingredients that are not native to any other state.  There are pages devoted to Polynesian and Hawaiian cooking, which helped me thing about what I was going to do for this pizza.  I took parts of recipes and ideas, then added them into one pizza.  The taste was amazing and I hope you really like it.

Ingredients Needed for 1 Pizza:

1/2 yellow onion – diced

1 pizza dough

1 pineapple or already sliced pineapple (not canned, fresh)

1 lb pork shoulder

1 orange pepper - diced

½ cup or to your preference, cheddar cheese

Polynesian sauce:

¼ tsp ginger powder

¼ cup of soy sauce (if soy allergy, use Coco aminos – Whole Foods)

1 tsp minced garlic

½ cup sugar

1 tsp oregano

Sauce:

I made my own Hawaiian sauce for the base of the pizza, which is a combination of Teriyaki, Shoyu, and Huli Huli recipe ingredients.  Combine all ingredients listed above, and whisk together.  You will use 1 ladle full to coat the pizza and save the rest for the meat.

Meat:

Cut pork into small stew size pieces.  In a medium pan, heat canola or vegetable oil and add pork meat.  Sear on both sides of the meat and add yellow onion.  Stir until onions become transparent.  Then add in the remainder of the Polynesian sauce and cook until sauce renders into the meat.  Set aside and allow meat to cool.

Pizza:

Apply sauce for the base.  Place pieces of the pork onto the pizza, spacing apart.  Add peppers.  Then add cheddar cheese.  Drizzle any remaining sauce on top of the pizza.

Pairing:  Hawaii is not really known for craft beer.  The beer that I would recommend that I was able to find is from Kona Brewing Company was the Koko Brown.  This is a good beer to pair with or you could always do the Fire Rock Pale Ale.  For wine, since this is a sweet pizza, I would recommend a good soft red wine such as Chianti or a Cab. 

Learning Moments:

This pizza challenged me with cooking from a different culture and tradition that I am familiar with.  I love learning, so this challenge is helping me try different techniques and ingredients that I am not use to combining together in cooking.  I hope you enjoy it! 

Using WF Naan Bread