20 January 2025

Umu Pulled Pork with Orange and Garlic

WRITER & PHOTOGRAPHER: CHRISTALL LOWE (NGĀTI KAUWHATA, TAINUI, NGĀTI MANIAPOTO)

Kāuta Taiwhenua. Provincial Kitchen.

I call this ‘umu pulled pork’ because we first made this in the back yard, using fire and hāngī stones to create our umu. Umu is a Māori word for oven, or earth oven, and this recipe was inspired by seeing the traditional Mayan way of cooking ‘cochinita pibil’ underground, which they still make in the Yucatán Peninsula. Cochinita means piglet, and pibil comes from the Mayan word ‘piib’ meaning to cook underground. I was so intrigued by the similarities between Mayan and Māori cooking methods, and was inspired to do something similar with our local ingredients. Cooking the pork with freshly squeezed orange juice makes for melt-in your-mouth succulent, tender meat. Of course, this doesn’t have to be cooked underground – it’s just as delicious cooked in the oven.

Serves 6+

INGREDIENTS
spicy barbecue rub (see below)
2 kilograms pork shoulder
2 red onions, chopped into chunks
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 apples, cored and quartered, or a bunch
of crabapples
½ cup barbecue sauce
juice of 4 oranges
salt to season

Spicy Barbecue Rub
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon chopped horopito (dried
or fresh), or sage
1 tablespoon dried thyme or oregano
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)

Quick Pickled Red Onions
2 red onions, thinly sliced
½ cup white vinegar
¼ cup caster sugar
½ teaspoon salt

METHOD
Mix the spicy barbecue rub ingredients together in a small bowl, and rub the mixture all over the pork. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 160°C (see cook’s note below if you’re using a slow-cooker).

Put the pork in a casserole, roasting or Dutch oven dish with a lid, ensuring the dish is big enough so that the lid fits on properly once all of the ingredients are in.

Add the onions, garlic and apples around the pork, and sprinkle some garlic over the pork as well.

Mix the barbecue sauce and orange juice together, and pour over and around the whole dish.

Cover with the lid and cook in the oven, turning the pork occasionally to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the dish, for 4–5 hours, or until the pork falls apart when pulled with a fork.

To make the quick pickled red onions, put all of the ingredients into a medium bowl and massage the onions until soft by squeezing them in your hands. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Quick pickled red onions can be kept in the fridge, covered, for up to one week.

Remove the pork from the dish and leave it to rest for 10 minutes. Do not discard what is remaining in the dish! After the pork has rested, ‘pull’ the pork by shredding it with two forks.

Spoon out and discard the excess oil from the top of the sauce remaining in the dish. Roughly mash the apples and onions and add more water if necessary to create a sauce with a pourable consistency. Season with more salt to taste. Return the pork to the dish and stir it through the sauce.

Serve with takakau flat bread, quick pickled red onions, coleslaw, and potato salad.

Cook’s note: If using a slow cooker, cook for 5–6 hours on high, or 8–10 hours on low.

Edited extract and recipes from Kai Feast: Food Stories and Recipes from the Maunga to the Moana by Christall Lowe. Published by Bateman Books, 2024. Hardback, $59.99.

This extract featured in our Raumati Summer 2024/25 Edition.