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Fijian Lovo Pork

Fijian lovo pork recipe: smoky, fall-apart pork shoulder wrapped in banana leaves and slow-roasted until it melts. Fiji’s earth-oven island feast for sharing.

⏱ 15 minPrep time
🔥 30 minCook time
🍽 4Servings
🏷 DinnerCategory
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Fijian Lovo Pork

Lovo is Fiji’s earth-oven feast: hot river stones, banana-leaf parcels and hours of patient smoke. Pork is the centrepiece of the lovo, seasoned with salt, wrapped and buried with taro, cassava and dalo leaves for the whole village to share.

You do not need a hole in the ground to capture it at home — a slow oven with a little liquid smoke gives the same tender, smoky result. Serve with palusami, coconut rice and a cold drink.

Step by stepInstructions

  1. Score the pork skin in a diamond pattern and rub all over with salt, pepper, garlic and liquid smoke.
  2. Wrap the pork tightly in banana leaves, then in a double layer of foil.
  3. Place in a roasting pan and roast at 300°F for 4-5 hours, until the meat is fork-tender and falling apart.
  4. Rest for 20 minutes, unwrap and shred with forks, mixing any juices back through the meat.
  5. Serve with taro, cassava or rice, and a squeeze of lime.

💡 Chef tips & storage

For a real lovo flavour, add a few unlit wood chips to the bottom of the pan — the smoke infuses the foil parcel as it roasts. Leftovers make incredible pulled-pork sandwiches.

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Recipe details

Prep15 min
Cook30 min
Servings4
CategoryDinner
PublishedAugust 17, 2026
Emily — the cook behind My Comfort Recipes

Hi, I'm Emily 🧡

Hi, I'm Emily — the cook behind My Comfort Recipes. Simple, tested comfort food for real weeknights, written down the way grandma would. Pull up a chair. More about me →