C4.2.4 New Zealand: Laying A Hangi p2
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This article is from the New Zealand FAQ, by Phil Stuart-Jones and Lin Nah with numerous contributions by others.
C4.2.4 New Zealand: Laying A Hangi p2
Do the next bit as quickly as you safely can.
- Whilst being hosed (wear strong shoes, jeans, and tee-shirt) carefully
(and quickly) lift the (probably just slightly glowing) irons from the
ashes (using a wooden handled rake, etc) and put them next to the pit.
[ I find an old chunk of corrugate iron works really well. Scrape, shovel
the stones/steel onto it, clean out the hole, then tip/scrape the stones
back in. ]
- Scrape the ashes out of the firepit (this is really hot work) with a
woodhandled (the longer the handle the better) rake/shovel
[ This is where you make/break the hangi. The more ash you leave in, the
smokier the hangi will taste. Your choice. Some leave bits on purpose.
Some cover the remaining ash with a light layer of sand. ]
- Put the irons back into the pit
- Cover the Irons with a couple of layers of very wet sacks
- Put the food baskets on the sacks
- Cover the food with a sheet
[ NB: wet sheet. I also suggest, use several sheets, then hose them for a
few seconds before covering the whole lot. The more top covering you can
manage the better. As the food cooks, steam within the cooking hole will
wet the top dirt. This naturally dissolves a bit, and can sometimes leak
into the food, not particularly enhancing the flavour!
Lay the sheets so they overlap toward the center of the pile, rather than
all of then being tucked under the dirt all the way around (see later for
why). Like this:
______
______ \ sheets/sacks
/+------+\
/ | food | \
__/ +------+ \____
]
- Bury the lot, and wherever you see steam escaping, put some more dirt on.
< Steam is what it's all about - you've got to have lots of heat and lots
of water. When we do it at home, as soon as the food is in the hole, we
poke a hose in and start the water running. It keeps running while we
cover the hole as fast as we can, and then we turn it off and pull the hose
out. A hangi must not run dry! >
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