Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Kalua Pork Loco Moco Benedict

About a month ago, I made a kalua pork roast because I was missing Hawaii.  For those wondering how to make this Hawaiian favorite, it's super simple.  One pork roast and 1/4 cup of hickory liquid smoke in a crock pot all day.  

Boom.

Done.

I had a goodly amount of roast left over so I decided I was going to surprise the Mr with this baby for breakfast the next morning...




Here's what you'll need for my version for one serving:

2 ounces kalua pork
2 eggs
1 Thomas Triple Health English Muffin
1 serving Heinz Fat Free Beef Gravy

The Mr has a love for runny yolks when I make eggs and I try my best to oblige.  Instead of making sunny side up eggs, I wanted to try my hand at poaching eggs like an eggs benedict.  I didn't want to buy one of those new fangled poaching devices, I just wanted to poach an egg old school so I scoured the internet for the best methods and tried a few.  The first was "poach it in the ladle" method.  Well, this might work fine in a metal ladle but mama only has a nylon one so the heat was not transferring.


I finally just slowly poured in the whites over medium heat water, then added the yolk after about 30 seconds of cooking.  It was okay but half of the whites separated from the egg so I wouldn't call that a success.

Then I tried the popular "give your hot water a stir, drop the egg in the middle and the swirling water will keep the egg in the center whilst enveloping the yolk with the whites" method.


LIES!

It made unflavored egg drop soup.

Just as I was ready to rename this post "how to frustrate yourself and waste three eggs that you want to rocket across the room", I said screw it and decided to make it my own way.

I cranked about 3" of water to high in a skillet and readied my egg filled ladle.  The second I put the egg in the middle of the boiling water, I killed the heat and pressed the English Muffin down in the toaster.


I took a big, metal spoon and began spooning the hot water over the undone whites closest to the yolk to get the whites solid and the yolk set.  Then I grabbed a slotted spoon and gently wiggled it under the egg to make sure it would release when ready.  It worked!

While the egg was boiling poaching, I prepared my Thomas Triple Health English Muffin.


I grabbed two ounces of my kalua pork and heated it in the microwave with a tablespoon of water to steam it back to life.  (You could use a tbsp of low sodium chicken or beef broth too if you have it on hand)  About 45 seconds in the microwave.  I put one ounce of pork on each side of the muffin.


This is where a non-dork would show you the picture of me spooning on one serving of Fat Free Heinz Beef Gravy but my eggs were nearing completion so no go.  I wiggled them from their steam bath and topped the delicious pork muffin home waiting for them.


The Mr was quite the happy boy when he ate this and said they were the most perfect poached eggs he's ever had.  I think he tells me things like that to keep me experimenting in the kitchen but when he busted that yolk, you couldn't chisel the smile off of his face!


For 430 calories, it's a great way to get in some protein in the morning and a little bit of aloha!

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16 comments:

  1. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

    It was wonderful. Looking forward to the next time we get to have it :-)

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    1. I'm sure a pork roast can be added to the grocery list in the next month or so.

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  2. Mmmm, this looks so good! One poaching trick I always use from the internet is to add a splash of vinegar to the water. Apparently it makes the whole egg stick together somehow? Science! Anyway, I've had no trouble using the vinegar + swirl the water method. Plus, somehow the egg doesn't pick up any vinegar flavor, so that's good too.

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    1. Cool trick and double bonus it doesn't flavor the egg! Hopefully other readers can give that a go if they keep vinegar on hand. I don't because it instantly activates my gag reflex! LOL

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  3. I'm not a fan of pork roast, runny eggs or beef gravy so I'll take a pass on this one. Hubby would love it. It's kinda funny that even though there are 3 things I don't like in it, your picture makes me want to try it anyway. Go figure.

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    1. LOL....well, I will take that as a compliment. Tell the hubby to make it and you can have a bite. ;-)

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  4. Looks delicious. I too tried the poaching by swirling the pot of boiling water (ala Pioneer Woman). I had egg whites all over the place. I tried to gather it all up, then I made my own Hollandaise sauce (son expressed interest in Eggs Benedict), and it was so much work and way too lemony. We couldn't even eat it. I have put a pork tenderloin (those are so lean and deliciously tender) in the crockpot, then shredded it with some delicious barbecue sauce (from our favorite local restaurant), and made sandwiches, it was good too, but not nearly as creative as what you have made here. KUDOS!

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    1. Yeah that whole swirling thing is some kind of voodoo that just doesn't work for me. (Us!) Neither of us like Hollandaise sauce so I knew I didn't even need to both with that which is kind of what gave me the idea for the loco moco version instead. That kalua pork lends itself very nicely to BBQ. A nice slow smoked flavor to it. YUM!

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  5. My Mr. gives me the same compliments, so I'll continue cooking for him. Sneaky little hobbits they are. ;)

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  6. Yeah I'm with you. Poaching is some kinda sorcery.

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    1. Indeed! I must say, I've gotten better the two other times I did it since this first time but they're not "traditional" poached but the Mr is good with it so I am too! LOL

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  7. I have yet to try this liquid smoke you speak of however I have heard it's wonderful. These look delish. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Liquid smoke is heaven in a bottle. You need to use it sparingly because it's concentrated but to give meat a smoky slow cooked flavor, it can't be beat, baby!

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  8. Did you check the way Deb (smittenkitchen) does it? She's got a tutorial.

    I prefer fried. But I might do soft boiled one weekend mmm

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    1. I think that might be the swirl method I checked out. She made it look so easy! LOL I know she added vinegar but this lady doesn't keep that on hand because I'll yak if I even smell that stuff. My method won't give a traditional poached egg but close enough the Mr loves them so I'll take that for now. ;-)

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