03 Magazine: March 01, 2023

OVEN-COOKED
HĀNGĪ KONO
These kono (food baskets) are simply meat,
root vegetables and stuffing steamed inside
cabbage leaf parcels. You can use any cut
of meat, but pork and lamb are hāngī
favourites. You can also experiment with
the root vegetables used. This was my nana’s
way of making a ‘hāngī’ in the comfort of
her own kitchen, especially in winter. No
digging required, no wood to burn, no
stones to heat! The result is succulent, tender
parcels of kai, steaming hot as if they’d
just come out of the ground. And don’t
forget the salt, as Grandad would remind
us constantly. Seasoning your meat makes a
huge difference to taste!
Serves 4
1 cabbage
4 pork chops, well salted
4 lamb chops, well salted
2 kūmara, peeled and chopped into 3cm chunks
4 potatoes, peeled and chopped into 3cm chunks
¼ pumpkin, peeled and chopped into 3cm chunks
salt
½ cup water
For the stuffing
8 slices of bread
1 onion, diced
1 medium carrot, grated
2 tablespoons mixed herbs
2 teaspoons salt
100g butter, melted
Place each cabbage basket into the roasting dish, season with salt,
and cover each with two large cabbage leaves.
Pour the water over the whole dish, and cover snugly with two
layers of tinfoil.
Cook for 1 hour at 200°C, then lower the temperature to 160°C
and cook for a further 2 hours.
Remove from oven and serve immediately, using a spatula to place
each kono on a plate for diners to open and enjoy.
Cook’s note
You can make one big kono instead by lining the roasting dish
with cabbage leaves, placing in the meat, vegetables and stuffing,
seasoning and covering with cabbage leaves, water and tinfoil as
per the instructions above.
Heat oven to 200°C.
To prepare the stuffing, break bread into small
chunks by hand, or in a food processor. Combine
all ingredients in a bowl, and set aside.
Line a large roasting dish with 2 layers of cabbage
leaves (use the smaller inner leaves for this, and
save the large leaves for your ‘baskets’).
Using 4 large cabbage leaves as baskets, fill each
with one pork chop and one lamb chop, 6 to 8
vegetable chunks, and top with stuffing.
Edited extract and recipes from Kai: Food stories
and recipes from my family table, by Christall Lowe,
photography by Christall Lowe, published by
Bateman Books, RRP$59.99.