AI-generated image
Mumu-style pork roast
Oven-roasted pork with sweet potato
Papua New Guinea's earth-oven pork with kaukau and greens, done in the oven
A mumu is the earth oven of the Papua New Guinea highlands, around Mount Hagen and Goroka, made for feasts, bride-price ceremonies and Christmas: pork, kaukau (sweet potato), bananas and greens are wrapped in banana leaves and steamed over hot stones for hours. This dish contains pork. This home version packs the same ingredients, with coconut milk, into a covered roasting tin and cooks them slowly until the pork is soft. The mistake is cooking the pork fast and hot; it needs long, gentle heat to become tender. Chef's tip: add the greens only for the last 30 minutes so they stay bright.
- Total time
- 210 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 3 ⅓ lb pork shoulderin 6 large pieces
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 oz fresh gingersliced
- 4 garlic clovescrushed
- 1 ¾ cups coconut milk1 tin
- 2 ¼ lb sweet potato (kaukau)in large chunks
- 2 green plantains or cooking bananaspeeled, in chunks
- 10 ½ oz pumpkin leaves, spinach or kaleroughly chopped
- 4 spring onionsin lengths
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Rub 3 ⅓ lb pork shoulder with 2 tsp salt, 1 oz fresh ginger and 4 garlic cloves. Chill for 1 hour.
60 minStep 2: Heat the oven to 325°F. Put the pork in a deep roasting tin, pour over 1 ¾ cups coconut milk, cover tightly with foil and roast for 1 hour 45 minutes.
105 minStep 3: Add 2 ¼ lb sweet potato (kaukau) and 2 green plantains or cooking bananas around the pork, baste with the juices, re-cover and roast for 45 minutes more.
45 minStep 4: Add 10 ½ oz pumpkin leaves, spinach or kale and 4 spring onions, re-cover and cook for 30 minutes, until the greens are tender and the pork pulls apart easily (it will be well above the safe 145°F).
30 minStep 5: Rest 10 minutes and serve the pork, vegetables and coconut juices together.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 560 kcal
- Protein
- 34 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 30 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mumu-style pork roast take?
- About 210 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 180 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of fresh ginger?
- ¼ tsp ground ginger per tbsp fresh (add it with the spices).
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.
Pfälzer SaumagenStuffed pig's stomach
Saumagen is the pride of the Palatinate, served at wine-village festivals and family dinners from the Haardt hills to Ludwigshafen. A cleaned pig's stomach is stuffed with diced pork shoulder, pork sausage meat, potato and carrot seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, poached slowly, then sliced thick and fried until crusty. The stomach works only as a casing and is ordered from a butcher; if you can't get one, bake the same filling in a covered terrine in a water bath. Serve with sauerkraut and mashed potato. Chef's tip: fill the stomach only three-quarters full, or it bursts as the potatoes swell.
Chha goshtLamb in buttermilk gravy
Up in the hill villages of Himachal Pradesh, where flocks are walked to summer pastures, lamb is often cooked in chhaachh, the thin buttermilk left after churning butter. Thickened with a spoonful of gram flour, it makes a pale, gently sour gravy that is milder and lighter than the red curries of the plains, and it is a favourite at dhams, the festive meals of the Kangra and Chamba valleys. Serve it with steamed rice or makki ki roti. Chef's tip: whisk the gram flour into the buttermilk until there are no lumps before it goes near the pot; once it hits the heat, any lumps stay lumps.




