Name: Hawaiian Pork Rice Bowl
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 480 min
Total time: 485 min
Ingredients: 3 pound pork butt; all purpose seasoning salt; 20 ounces can of pineapple chunks (with juice); 16 ounces barbeque sauce; 2 large jalapeno peppers (diced); 2 cups fresh pineapple (chunked); 6 green onions (chopped); 1/4 head of red cabbage (thin sliced); 8 ounces carrots (jullienne cut); 1 mango, ripe (chunked); 2 acocado, ripe (chunked); 1/3 cup cilantro (chopped); 2 limes (quartered); 4 cups water; 4 cups instant rice

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Hawaiian Pork Rice Bowl is sweet spicy slow cooker pork served up over rice, cabbage and pineapple jalapeno salsa in the perfect pork rice bowl. Delicious easy comfort food!

Can we talk a minute about my lastest food crush? I mean, it’s more than a crush.. we are talking true eternal love, my friends. I can only be referring to the sweet, spicy Hawaiian pulled pork that I used in this recipe for my Hawaiian Pulled Pork Slow Cooker Sandwiches. I mentioned in that post that I loved this slow cooker pulled pork recipe so much that I also repurposed it into a pork rice bowl recipe so … here we are!! … talking about low and slow, sweet and spicy porkalicoius yumminess! Let’s get into this Hawaiian Pork Rice Bowl, shall we?

Now, as a girl who L-O-V-E-S all things rice bowl, I was really surprised when I thought to flip this Hawaiian pulled pork from a sandwich filler to a rice bowl superstar. I mean, it all made sense on paper, you have big chunks of tropical tasting tender pork and then combine that with the sweetness of fresh pineapple with a bit of crunch from some red cabbage and a bit of mango and some spicy jalapeno topped off with a big ol’ squirt of lime juice …. oh my!!! That is nothing short of heaven and the best part, the very best part is that this is a dish that leans a lot more on the healthy side than a lot of what gets served up in my kitchen. Oh wait!!! The even better part than “the very best part” I just mentioned …. it’s so FREAKIN’ delicious!!!!!!!

WHAT IS THE BEST CUT OF MEAT FOR PULLED PORK?

The only cut of meat I used for pulled pork is a Boston butt, which is half of the pork shoulder (not the piggy behind!) but you can also use the picnic shoulder if you are unable to find a butt roast. It’s extrememly tender and really lends itself well to low and slow cooking that is happening in your slow cooker.

WHAT KIND OF RICE DO YOU USE IN A RICE BOWL?

Honestly, the type of rice you use in your Hawaiian Pork Rice Bowl (or any rice bowl, for that matter!) is completely up to you and your tastes. For this recipe, I used white rice because I had it on hand. If I had a box of brown rice in my pantry, I could have just as easily used that. You can also use jasmine rice if you wanted to infuse a subtle jasmine flavor and aroma into your dishes or maybe even a basmati rice with it’s subtle nutty flavor and aroma. I even have a package of black rice on my shelf right now that I can’t wait to try. The possibilites are endless and only limited by your preferences.

HOW DO YOU MAKE THIS HAWAIIAN PORK RICE BOWL?

Easy! To make this Hawaiian Pork Rice Bowl, start by rinsing off your pork butt and patting it dry. Sprinkle entire butt roast with seasoned salt and place it in the bottom of your slow cooker and then add on top of your pork butt the can of diced pineapple chunks, juice and all.

Then squeeze out the entire bottle of barbecue sauce on top of your pineapple chunks, cover and cook on Low for 8 – 10 hours.

When done cooking, skim off any fat that may be floating on top, remove your pork and shredd it using two forks (the meat should easily pull apart into chunks), return the meat to the sauce and let it simmer for another 10 -15 minutes. While your Hawaiian pulled pork is simmering, bring four cups of water to boil in a covered pot. Once boiling, stir in four cups of instant white rice, cover and remove from the heat. Let is sit for 5 minutes. While that is cooking, prepare your garnishes .. chop your onion, pineapple and mango.

Dice your jalapeno, cilantro and quarter your limes. Once everything is ready, serve up some rice in a bowl, add in some Hawaiian pulled pork and then garnish as you like. Serve immediately.

PS … if you aren’t a fan of something on the list, just leave it out of your bowl. I am not a fan of mango but my hubby sure is so he added it to his and left if out of mine. It’s just food 🙂

Enjoy!

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