Making A Traditional Hangi

As a child growing up in rural Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, I have fond memories of my father preparing and cooking a hangi in our back yard. He would wake us early in the morning to help prepare the food.

A hangi is a traditional cooking method for indigenous New Zealand Maori. Hangi were common pre-European. However now they are reserved for special occasions such as birthdays or Christmas.

The main advantage of a hangi, besides the unique, smokey flavour of the delicious food, is that it is an efficient way of feeding a lot of people at once. It is not unusual for a hangi to feed hundreds of people easily in one sitting.

These days you can get gas hangi cookers. I've even seen a beer keg converted to a gas hangi cooker. But this hub is how to prepare a traditional hangi from scratch.

To make a hangi you need:

About a dozen volcanic rocks for a medium hangi feeding 20 - 30 people. The bigger the hangi, the more rocks are needed. If volcanic rocks are unavailable, railway iron or iron pieces will do the job.

Enough wood to make a fire capable of heating the volcanic rocks or iron to a very hot temperature.

Four large sacking cloths, about twice as big as the food basket in size.

Four old sheets.

A wire basket to cook the food in. My cousins once used a shopping trolley with the legs cut off, but I'm not advocating you go steal a shopping trolley from the supermarket. No, not me.

First, find an open space, big enough to light a large fire without damaging adjacent buildings or trees. Second, dig a large hole, large enough to easily put your wire basket in and a bit deeper then your wire basket.

Thirdly build a fire next to the hole. Stack the wood criss cross so that it builds up high. It is important the wood is under the rocks or irons so use all the wood. Then place the volcanic rocks or iron pieces on top of the fire.

Soak the sacks and sheets in a large container of water near the hangi hole. Have the shovels, rakes and gumboots ready to remove the hot stones from the fire. My father used to use a pitch fork to remove the hot hangi stones.

Now light the fire. It should take about two hours to completely burn down. While the stones are heating you can prepare the food.

Start by lining the wire basket with a couple of layers of tin foil. Next place some large pieces of pork and / or mutton at the bottom of the basket. About the size of a normal roast.

Next place some chickens in the basket. Whole or frozen chickens are OK. Now sprinkle handfuls of salt over the meat. Cover with generous amounts of watercress or puha (New Zealand indigenous green).

Next place some potato, sweet potato and pumpkin pieces in a muslin bag in the basket. Along with this place stuffing in a muslin bag in the basket. The stuffing is made of bread pieces, onion, melted butter and seasoned with salt, pepper and mixed herbs.

You can add other food to your hangi i.e. fish, eel or steam pudding, but these are the basics.

Put the hot rocks or irons in the bottom of the hole using rakes, shovels or pitch forks. Wear gumboots to protect your feet and keep children safe. Try not to get too many hot embers in the hole.

Place the food basket on top of the hot stones. Poor about a bucket of water over the basket. Be very careful of the hot steam. It is best to have someone who has done hangi before to lead this process.

Lay the wet sheets criss cross so that they fully encover the hangi basket. Lay the wet sacking cloth in similar criss cross fashion. Start shovelling the dirt over the sacking until the hangi is completely buried and no steam is escaping.

Leave the hangi for about 3 hours. Try not to take it out too early as it will be undercooked. 

Use the shovels to scrape off the dirt. Peel back a layer of sacking but don't take it right off. Leave it on one side of the hole to protect the food from the dirt. Peel another layer of sacking to cover another side of the hole until all the sides of the hole are covered. A bit like peeling a banana.

Do the same with the sheets. Be very careful not to burn yourself. Use protection to lift the hot basket and remove it to a large table or bench for dishing up the food.

In New Zealand, making a hangi is very much a social event. Many people gather to prepare and cook the hangi. There is much discussion in anticipation of a great and memorable feast. If a hangi is cooked right, the food is absolutely delicious, like nothing you have ever tasted. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.