This holiday season, consider cooking a locally grown holiday feast in an imu. Imu is the name for a traditional Hawaiian underground oven. These ovens provided an energy efficient way of cooking large amounts of food for Polynesians and Micronesians for centuries. Many Hawaiian families and some newcomers will cook their holiday meals in an imu this year. You can create your own imu or join others at Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden’s “Kalua Your Turkey” event on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Call the garden at 323-3318 to reserve a space at the workshop, which costs $30, $25 for members.
Though the English translation of imu is “oven,” imu cooking is more like steaming than oven baking. In a Hawaiian imu, steam is usually supplied by heating banana tree trunks. First time imu cookers can follow these instructions, but talking to an experienced imu cooker before you start is highly recommended. It is also important to inform your local fire department about when and where you will be cooking.
You’ll need a pit big enough for the food as well as the rocks and banana logs that will be providing the steam. A pit about 18 inches deep will hold the rocks once they are heated and the food can be mounded on top. If you want the cooking to be below ground, you’ll need at least another foot in depth. A pit six feet around should work for most family meals.
Set the fire with long-burning firewood and rounded rocks between fist and head size. Place the wood and rocks in a teepee or log cabin arrangement with plenty of air space to get the fire going. For quick starts, you can include a bag of match light charcoal in the center of your burn pile. A weed burning propane torch can also help get the fire going quickly.
While the stones are heating, prepare the food. It is advisable to wrap smaller pieces of meat and vegetables like potatoes, taro, sweet potatoes and bananas in ti leaves and put them in a chicken wire covering. This keeps the pieces from getting separated and makes them easy to handle. Larger pieces including pigs, turkeys, ducks, beef or lamb should be salted with Hawaiian salt inside and out and placed in separate chicken wire cages for handling ease. Be sure to burn off the galvanizing chemicals in new chicken wire first.
In three or four hours, the wood should be burned down and the stones will be a blonde color indicating that they are thoroughly heated. Any large pieces of wood that are still burning should be removed to avoid burning the food.
Once the rocks are heated thoroughly, place a layer of shredded banana trunks on them. Prepare the banana trunks by cutting them into pieces 2 to 3 feet long and smashing them with a sledge hammer or heavy tool until they shred. These shredded logs, stacked 2 to 4 inches high, will provide the steam for cooking the food.
On top of the banana logs a layer of ti leaves will keep the food from scorching. You may need the head of leaves from 12 ti plants to create a good bed and covering for the food. Nestle the food on the ti leaf bed and cover it completely with additional ti leaves.
Next, the food and ti leaf pile is covered with wet burlap. Twelve or more burlap bags will be required to be sure steam doesn’t escape.
The last step is to cover everything with plastic. A single sheet of heavy plastic, with soil holding down the edges, should cover the entire imu. As the contained heat increases, the plastic will puff up as the food cooks.
The cooking duration is determined by several factors, including the size of the pit, the heat of the fire, the amount of food, and the number of banana logs and ti leaves. Judging the correct cooking time requires experience, but leaving the food in too long is better than taking it out too soon. An imu full of turkeys and vegetables can cook for six to seven hours. One with a whole pig and other large pieces is best left for about 12 hours.
Once you determine that cooking is complete, remove the food carefully to avoid getting soil on it or burning yourself. Once removed, it should be ready to eat. Be sure to douse the fire with a hose before leaving it.
Peter Van Dyke is the manager of Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook. Diana Duff is a local organic farmer as well as a plant advisor and consultant.
Tropical gardening helpline
Lynne asks: I am planting tea plants on my lot in Ocean View. I know this is a challenging environment for them and that I need to plant some overstory plants. What suggestions do you have for plants to use that can tolerate drought? Any other suggestions?
Answer: Creating a cool and moist microclimate for your tea plants will help them thrive. Adding mulch around them will help retain moisture in the root zone, which is a good thing. Consider an overstory of small trees to provide some shade and help keep the plants cooler. Select from drought tolerant species that can grow quickly and thrive at your location. A tree that is also a nitrogen fixer would be great as it would add some nutrients to the soil, as well as provide shade.
Here are some suggestions that you are likely to find locally with a bit of information about each:
c Heritage: noni, aalii
c Fruiting: Natal plum, which flowers and features fruit and thorns; fig, which has a spreading habit, but fruits and attacts birds; pomegranate; Surinam cherry fruit; Acerola fruit
c Flowering N-fixers: Scrambled egg tree, Senna surratensis, is a member of the bean family and is fast-growing and features yellow flowers; Calliandra haematocephala, is a member of the bean family, and features a red powder puff; Pride of Barbados/Dwarf Poinciana, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, is a member of the bean family and is fast-growing and features lei flowers and spines; neem, coppice as an insect deterrant; Glircidia madre de cacao; Moringa, which is fast-growing and features edible leaves and medicial value.