Hāngī

Ingredients

Fire and pit

• 1pit about 1 m square and 60–80 cm deep
• About 30–40 volcanic andesite or basalt stones, fist-sized, or purpose-made cast iron hangi stones
• A stack of dry hardwood, enough for a 3–4 hr fire
• 6–8clean wet sacks or a wet cotton sheet
• 1large clean wet cloth and 2–3 m of wet muslin
• 1old tin lid or sheet, plus soil to seal
• 20 litreswater, for steaming

Baskets

• 3 kgpork shoulder, in large pieces
• 2 kglamb or mutton, on the bone
• 1whole chicken, jointed, or 2 kg chicken pieces
• 3 kgkumara (orange and gold), halved
• 3 kgpotatoes, halved
• 1whole pumpkin, in big wedges
• 2cabbages, quartered
• 2 tbspsalt, for seasoning the meat

Optional and to serve

• Stuffing of bread, onion and herbs, wrapped in foil
• Steamed pudding in a cloth, for the sweet basket
• Watercress or puha, briefly boiled
• Rewena bread and butter

Directions

1. Lay wet sacks or clean cabbage and puha leaves straight onto the stones as the first barrier, so nothing burns on contact.
2. Set the baskets in: meat in the bottom basket where the heat is fiercest, vegetables above it, and anything delicate or sweet on top.
3. Season the meat and leave room for steam to move between the pieces. Cover the baskets with wet muslin, then wet sacks, tucking them in around the edges so no food is exposed.
4. Pour the water quickly and evenly over the whole pit. Leave it undisturbed for 3–4 hours. Do not open it to check; every opening costs an hour.
5. Uncover carefully from the downwind side, brushing soil away before lifting the cloths so no dirt falls onto the food.
6. Lift the baskets straight out. Test the pork and lamb at the bone: the meat should be falling apart and pull away easily, and the kumara should be soft right through and faintly caramelised.
7. Serve immediately on long tables, with watercress and bread.

Technique

• The stones are the oven. All the heat comes from stone that has been in a fire for hours, and the water turns that stored heat into steam; there is no fire left in the pit while the food cooks.
• Use only volcanic stone or manufactured hangi stones. Sedimentary and river rock holds trapped water, and heated to red it can shatter violently.
• Sealing is everything. A properly sealed hangi shows no steam at all after the first minute, and the difference between a good hangi and a ruined one is almost always the seal.
• Hangi is a Maori tradition tied to occasion and hospitality, cooked for hui, tangi, weddings and celebrations, and it is a community job: one group tends the fire, another prepares the baskets, and the lifting of the hangi is itself part of the event.

Substitutions

• No pit: a commercial hangi steamer, a gas-fired steel box that mimics the method, is now used all over New Zealand and gives a very close result in about 3 hours.
• At home, layer the same food in a large stockpot with a rack and 3 cm of water, add a few drops of liquid smoke or a handful of soaked manuka chips in a foil parcel, cover tightly and steam 3 hours on low. It is honestly a steamed dinner rather than a hangi, but it is the accepted indoor version.
• Kumara is the essential vegetable and is worth seeking out; ordinary sweet potato is close but less dense and cooks faster.

Variations

• Coastal hangi with seafood baskets of mussels, paua and fish added in the last hour.
• Rotorua geothermal cooking, where food is steamed in natural hot pools and steam boxes rather than over stones.
• Hangi pudding, a steamed sponge in a cloth cooked in the top basket and served with cream.

History

Steam cooking on heated stones came with Polynesian ancestors; in Rotorua, geothermal steam boxes and pools replace the pit entirely.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hāngī?

Hāngī is a main from New Zealand: meat and kūmara steamed underground on heated stones, Māori feast tradition. Steam cooking on heated stones came with Polynesian ancestors; in Rotorua, geothermal steam boxes and pools replace the pit entirely.

How long does Hāngī take to make?

Hāngī takes 2 hr of preparation and 4 hr heating the stones plus 3–4 hr steaming of cooking. The recipe makes 12–20 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Hāngī?

Yes, within limits. No pit: a commercial hangi steamer, a gas-fired steel box that mimics the method, is now used all over New Zealand and gives a very close result in about 3 hours. At home, layer the same food in a large stockpot with a rack and 3 cm of water, add a few drops of liquid smoke or a handful of soaked manuka chips in a foil parcel, cover tightly and steam 3 hours on low. It is honestly a steamed dinner rather than a hangi, but it is the accepted indoor version. Kumara is the essential vegetable and is worth seeking out; ordinary sweet potato is close but less dense and cooks faster.

What is the most important thing to get right in Hāngī?

Pour the water quickly and evenly over the whole pit. Leave it undisturbed for 3–4 hours. Do not open it to check; every opening costs an hour.