This is not a hāngī. A hāngī is a pit, a fire, stones and people who know how to do it, and it belongs to them. What follows is an oven dish that borrows the pairing of pork, kūmara and cabbage and makes no claim beyond that. Low heat, a covered tray, steam doing most of the work. Old Red goes on the pork belly, where the sugar has time to turn into crust.
3 hrs. Serves 6.
Ingredients
- 1.5kg Pork belly, skin scored
- 3 dessertspoons Plateit Old Red Rub
- 1kg Kūmara, in thick rounds
- Cabbage, cut into wedges, half a head
- 2 Onions, halved
- 300ml Chicken stock
- Salt, generous
Method
- Oven to 150C. Rub 3 dessertspoons of Plateit Old Red Rub into the meat side of the belly only. Salt the skin hard and leave it bare.
- Kūmara, onions and cabbage in a deep tray. Stock poured around them.
- Belly on top, skin up. Cover tightly with foil. Two and a half hours.
- Foil off, oven to 220C, 20 to 25 mins to crackle the skin. Watch it. The rub is underneath for a reason.
- Rest 15 mins. Cut through the crackling with a serrated knife, serve straight from the tray with the vegetables and the juices.
Do this: Skim the tray juices, reduce them in a pan for five minutes, pour back over. That is the whole gravy.
