Hāngī

Hāngī (Māori Earth Oven)

A traditional Māori method of cooking meat and vegetables slowly in an underground pit lined with fire-heated stones. The food emerges tender, smoky, and imbued with an unmistakable earthy flavour. Note: this is a labour-intensive communal cook, best done over a half-day in a suitable outdoor space.

Prep

60 min

Cook

240 min

Total

300 min

Serves

8 to 10

Difficulty

Hard

Recipe ingredients

• •1.5 kg (3½ lb) lamb shoulder, bone-in, cut into large pieces
• •1.5 kg (3½ lb) whole chicken, or chicken pieces; skin on
• •1 kg (2¼ lb) kumara (sweet potato), orange or red variety, scrubbed
• •1 kg (2¼ lb) agria potatoes, or other floury potato, whole if small, halved if large
• •1 kg (2¼ lb) pumpkin, e.g. crown or kent, cut into large wedges, skin on
• •1 kg (2¼ lb) large volcanic stones, rivers stones must NOT be used — they can explode; basalt or granite are safe
• •3 kg (6½ lb) dry firewood, hardwood, for a 3–4 hour burn
• •1 large sheet of muslin or chicken wire
• •1 roll heavy-duty aluminium foil, or banana/cabbage leaves if available
• •1 bunch fresh green leafy stalks, e.g. pumpkin leaves, cabbage leaves, or wet sacks — to protect food and trap steam
• •30 g (1 oz) sea salt
• •1 mound loose soil or sand, to seal the pit — the soil you dug out is ideal

Steps

1. 1 Dig a pit approximately 1 m wide × 1 m long × 60 cm deep (about 3 ft × 3 ft × 2 ft). Loosen all surrounding soil and pile it close by for sealing later.
2. 2 Build a hot fire in the pit at least 3 hours before cooking. Place the volcanic stones on top of and within the fire once it is established and let them heat until they glow faintly and a hand held 30 cm above them feels intense radiant heat, roughly 2 to 3 hours. Do not use river or beach stones — trapped moisture can cause them to explode violently.
3. 3 While the stones heat, prepare the food. Pat the lamb and chicken dry with paper towels and season generously with salt. Leave the vegetables whole or in large wedges; do not peel.
4. 4 Line the bottom of a wooden crate or a frame of chicken wire with wet cabbage or pumpkin leaves, or with a layer of wet sacks. Place the lamb and chicken on this base, then arrange the kumara, potatoes, and pumpkin around and on top. Cover with more wet leaves or wet sacking, then enclose the whole parcel in heavy aluminium foil, sealing tightly so no ash can enter.
5. 5 Use long green sticks or firewood tongs to pull the burning wood aside, exposing the hot stones. Carefully rake the stones into an even layer across the bottom of the pit. Lower the food parcel onto the stones using clean sticks or a helper, keeping the parcel level.
6. 6 Immediately cover the parcel with a layer of wet sacking or leaves, then shovel the reserved soil over the top to completely seal the pit, mounding it 15–20 cm thick so no steam escapes.
7. 7 Leave the hāngī undisturbed for 3 to 4 hours. Do not lift the lid during cooking — the trapped steam is what cooks the food.
8. 8 Carefully scrape back the soil (starting from the downwind side to avoid the dust cloud), remove the sacking, and lift the parcel out. Open the foil and check the lamb: it should be falling off the bone and tender; chicken should read 74 °C (165 °F) at the thickest part; potatoes and kumara should slide off a skewer with no resistance. Return the parcel to the hāngī pit and re-seal for 30–45 minutes if anything is underdone.
9. 9 Transfer the meat and vegetables to a warmed platter, tearing rather than cutting the lamb. Serve hot, with the cooking juices spooned over. Traditionally eaten with bread, butter, and a green salad.