After first seeing the Diners, Drive Inns and Dives episode from Season 15 where the Heeia Kea Pier General Store and Deli was featured when Chef Mark "Gooch" Noguchi still held court in the kitchen and he demo'd his Luau Stew, I always wanted to create this dish in my own kitchen. Of course not very many supermarkets carry luau leaf or taro leaves on a regular basis. So I finally pulled the trigger and purchased 6 bags of taro leaves along with several trays of pork sirloin... the original recipe calls for either butt or shoulder but I wanted my creation to be a wee bit healthier...
First remove the stems then cut the leaves into manageable pieces...
Then slice a couple of onions with the grain...
Add a large piece of fresh ginger...
Then cut the pork into small chunks...
Brown in a little oil...
Remove then add the onions and ginger until softened, pile in the luau leaves, salt, black pepper and water - I also added a little shoyu - then top with the browned pork. Cover bring to boil, reduce to a bare simmer and cook for 3 hours. Yup 3 hours since luau leaves have quite a bit of oxalic acid which will make your mouth very itchy if they are undercooked (oxalic acid is actually toxic in larger quantities).
The pork should be almost fallin-of-da-bone tender after 3 hours... Enjoy with hot rice or fresh poi...
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