View source for Hāngī

{{Short description|Traditional Māori cooking method}}
{{Distinguish|Hongi{{!}}''Hongi''}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
[[File:Hangi prepare.jpg|thumb|right|alt=photo of food and stones in foil-lined containers|Putting down a {{langr|mi|hāngī}}]]
[[File:Hangi ingredients.jpg|thumb|right|alt=photo showing sliced meats and vegetables|Raw meat and vegetables for the {{langr|mi|hāngī}}]]
[[File:Hāngi dinner.jpg|thumb|right|alt=photo of cooked food on plate on serving tray|{{langr|mi|Hāngī}} dinner]]
'''{{langr|mi|Hāngī}}''' ({{IPA|mi|ˈhaːŋiː|lang|link=yes}}) is a traditional [[New Zealand]] [[Māori people|Māori]] method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a [[pit oven]], called an [[umu (oven)|{{lang|mi|umu|cat=no}}]].{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite dictionary|title=umu |url=http://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?&keywords=umu |dictionary=[[Te Aka Online Māori Dictionary]] |access-date=9 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330192456/maoridictionary.co.nz/search?&keywords=umu|archive-date=2024-03-30|url-status=live}}</ref> It is still used for large groups on special occasions, as it allows large quantities of food to be cooked without the need for commercial cooking appliances.{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite transcript|last1=Satyanand |first1=Anand |title=Hangi for Prince William |url=https://gg.govt.nz/publications/hangi-prince-william |website=[[The Governor-General of New Zealand]] |publisher=Government of New Zealand|date=17 January 2010 |access-date=9 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207055228/gg.govt.nz/publications/hangi-prince-william|archive-date=2025-02-07|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Process==
To "lay a {{langr|mi|hāngī}}" or "put down a {{langr|mi|hāngī}}" involves digging a pit in the ground, heating stones in the pit with a large fire, placing baskets of food on top of the stones, and covering everything with earth for several hours before uncovering (or lifting) the {{langr|mi|hāngī}}.{{zwj}}<ref name="NZFS">{{cite book |title=Food Safety Practices in Preparing and Cooking a Hāngi |url=https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/1057-food-safety-practices-in-preparing-and-cooking-a-hangi-he-whakatairanga-i-nga-ahuatanga-mahi-mo-te-tunu-hangi |series=New Zealand Food Safety |year=2013|access-date=9 November 2018 |author=[[New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries]]|publisher=Government of New Zealand|isbn=978-0-478-41430-1|location=Wellington, N.Z.|oclc=891789073 }}</ref> {{langr|mi|Hāngī}} experts have developed and improved methods that have often, like the stones themselves, been handed down for generations.

Common foods cooked in a {{langr|mi|hāngī}} are meats such as lamb, pork, chicken and seafood ({{wikt-lang|mi|kaimoana}}), and vegetables such as [[potato]], {{lang|mi|[[kūmara]]}} (sweet potato), [[Oxalis tuberosa|{{lang|es|oca|cat=no}}]] (referred to as "yams" in New Zealand), [[pumpkin]], [[squash (food)|squash]], [[taro]] and [[cabbage]].{{zwj}}<ref name="Maori TV">{{Cite web|title=Make your own hāngī|url=https://www.maoritelevision.com/shows/hangi-pit-masters/make-your-own-hangi|access-date=2021-05-04|website=[[Māori Television]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508230017/www.maoritelevision.com/shows/hangi-pit-masters/make-your-own-hangi|archive-date=2022-05-08|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{zwj}}<ref name="NZFS" /><ref name="NZ.com">{{Cite web|title=Māori Hangī | website=100% Pure New Zealand|author=[[Tourism New Zealand]]|url=https://www.newzealand.com/nz/feature/maori-hangi/|access-date=2021-05-04|language=en-NZ}}</ref>

A {{langr|mi|hāngī}} pit is dug to a depth of between {{Convert|50-100|cm|in|-1|abbr=off}}, sufficient to hold the rocks and two stacked baskets of food. Logs, usually {{lang|mi|[[mānuka]]}} or {{lang|mi|[[kānuka]]}}, are stacked over the pit with the rocks, commonly [[andesite]] or [[basalt]], on top. The logs are lit and are left to burn for 3 to 4 hours, heating the rocks to {{Convert|600-700|C|F|-2|abbr=off}}. Once the fire has burned down, the hot embers and most of the ash are removed. Alternatively, the fire is built separately and the {{langr|mi|hāngī}} pit is dug while the fire is burning, with the hot rocks transferred to the pit after heating.{{zwj}}<ref name="NZFS" />{{zwj}}<ref name="Maori TV" />

Meanwhile, the food is prepared and placed in wire baskets lined with either [[Meryta sinclairii|{{lang|mi|puka|cat=no}}]], [[banana leaf|banana]] or cabbage leaves, or [[aluminium foil]]. The meat basket is placed at the bottom of the pit, with the vegetable basket placed on top. If seafood is included, it is placed on top of the vegetable basket. Then, wet sacks or cloths are placed on top of the baskets, and the whole pit is covered with earth. The {{langr|mi|hāngī}} takes approximately 2 to 4{{nbsp}}hours to cook. A person supervises the {{langr|mi|hāngī}} while it cooks, covering up any escaping steam with earth.{{zwj}}<ref name="NZFS" />{{zwj}}<ref name="Maori TV" />{{zwj}}<ref name="NZ.com" />

Once the {{langr|mi|hāngī}} is cooked, the earth is carefully removed from the top of the pit, followed by the sacks or cloth. The baskets are lifted out of the pit, and the food taken to the kitchen for carving and serving.{{zwj}}<ref name="NZFS" />{{zwj}}<ref name="Maori TV" />

[[File:Group of men around a hangi at Te Whaiti, 1930. ATLIB 298389.png|thumb|alt=black-and-white photo of Māori man with male teenager and children in rustic cooking area|Around a {{langr|mi|hāngī}} at {{langr|mi|[[Te Whaiti]]}} in 1930]]
Prior to [[Europeans in New Zealand|European colonisation]] and the introduction of metalworking and wire, food was laid between bark, large leaves and other vegetation. Wire baskets became widely used in the early 19th{{nbsp}}century, with [[wikt:sacking|sacking]] and cloth replacing leaves and bark as the covering of choice.{{zwj}}<ref name="gen">{{cite web | url=http://www.genuinemaoricuisine.com/Folders/Hangi.html | title=The Hangi | website=Maori Foods of Aotearoa| author=Epuro Hands International Limited| year=2005 | access-date=October 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005014616/www.genuinemaoricuisine.com/Folders/Hangi.html|archive-date=2019-10-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the early 21st{{nbsp}}century, gas-heated stainless-steel "{{langr|mi|hāngī}} machines" are sometimes used to replicate the style of cooking without the need for a wood fire, rocks and a pit.{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.multikaicooker.co.nz/about-us/ | title=About the MultiKai Cooker | author=Multi KC Ltd | year=2011 | access-date=October 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250711024606/multikaicooker.co.nz/pages/about-us|archive-date=2025-07-11|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Early ''umu-tī'' ==
Evidence from [[Māori history|early Polynesian settler sites]] in New Zealand such as [[Wairau Bar|{{langr|mi|Wairau|cat=no}} Bar]] and in coastal [[Otago Peninsula|{{langr|mi|Otago|cat=no}} Peninsula]] from about{{nbsp}}1280 shows a significant number of large cooking pits or [[umu (oven)|{{lang|mi|umu|cat=no}}]] which were designed to cook {{lang|mi|[[tī kōuka]]}} or various other species of {{lang|la|[[Cordyline]]}}.{{zwj}}<ref name="gen" />

The distinguishing feature of an {{lang|mi|umu-tī}} was its large size compared to a normal earth oven. The long, carrot-shaped [[tap root]] was cooked in a large, stone-lined pit for between one and two{{nbsp}}days. The result was a fibrous mass of sweet pulp with a bitter aftertaste. This was a common east [[Polynesia]]n practice in the [[Cook Islands]] and [[Society Islands]],{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knight |first1=Hardwicke |title=Umu-ti |journal=[[The Journal of the Polynesian Society]] |date=1966 |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=332–347 |issn=0032-4000 |eissn=2230-5955|url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_75_1966/Volume_75%2C_No._3/Umu-ti%2C_by_Hardwicke_Knight%2C_p_332_-_347/p1 |access-date=9 November 2018}}</ref> and the remains of large {{lang|mi|umu}} have also been found in the [[Kermadec Islands|{{langr|br|Kermadec|cat=no}} Islands]]. Investigation in {{langr|mi|[[Otago]]}} shows that most of these pits were used only once or twice.{{zwj}}{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

==Popular culture==

The Hāngī is part of the [[New Zealand|Aoteroa\New Zealand]] cultural identity. It is often part of the kai(food) portion of the [[pōwhiri]].<ref>https://www.newzealand.com/nz/feature/powhiri-maori-welcome/</ref> The Hāngī has been adapted for a chip flavour by heartland<ref>https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/hangi-flavoured-chips-brainchild-of-lincoln-high-school-students/EJO3SO5JKESFOSBNSCPTUVTLB4/</ref> and a pizza made by New Zealand pizza chain [[Hell Pizza]] called unearthed.<ref>https://hellpizza.nz/wickedpedia/2024/09/20/hangi-pork-belly-pizza/</ref>

New Zealand country music artist [[Dennis Marsh]] also has a popular song called Hāngī Tonight which is New Zealand gold certified.<ref>https://www.radioscope.co.nz/2024/04/06/single-cert-search/ Search for "Hangi Tonight" in search field| cert date=2025-04-17 | date-accessed=6 October 2025</ref> The song references the Hāngī in terms of popular foods including [[pūhā|puha]], [[pork]] and [[Paphies australis|pīpīs]]. The song references the method of the hot rocks as part of the process and [[Māori culture|Māori cultural celebrations]] including [[Haka]], [[Māori music|Waiata]] and [[Poi (performance art)|Poi]].<ref>https://folksong.org.nz/hangi_tonight/index.html</ref>

== See also ==
{{sister project auto|wikt=yes|s=yes|cookbook=yes}}

* {{annotated link|Clam bake}}
* {{annotated link|Curanto|{{lang|arn|Curanto|cat=no}}}}
* {{annotated link|Kālua|{{lang|haw|Kālua|cat=no}}}}
* {{annotated link|Lovo|{{lang|fj|Lovo|cat=no}}}}
* {{annotated link|Pachamanca|{{lang|qu|Pachamanca|cat=no}}}}
* {{annotated link|Rosvopaisti|{{lang|fi|Rosvopaisti|cat=no}}}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.bandannaclub.com/Events-GoodTimes-Hangi.shtml Home-cooked Hangi in the UK]

{{Cooking techniques}}

{{Title lang|mi|i=no}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hangi}}
[[Category:Māori cuisine]]
[[Category:Earth oven]]
[[Category:Māori words and phrases]]
[[Category:Communal eating]]
[[Category:Marae protocols]]