Photos of the imu cooking process:
Photo 45 - The edge of one burlap bag is overlapped
on top of the other bag.
Photo 46 - A plastic tarp is laid over everything and weighted
with stones.
.
Photo 47 - The ring of stones encircle the perimeter
of the imu opening.
Photo 48 - The final covering of dirt is placed on top
of the stones and plastic tarp. Keep the dirt on the tarp for
easy removal when uncovering the imu. The plastic tarp, rocks,
and dirt will prevent the steam from leaking out of the imu.
Photo 49 - When the cooking was done, two people lifted
up the plastic tarp, which included the dirt layer and the rocks.
It took about 6 hours of cooking time for the amount of food that
was in the imu. The last covering material of burlap bags are
taken off.
Photo 50 - Removing the third layer of sliced banana stumps.
Notice the steam is still rising from the imu.
Photo 51 - Taking out the pork butt bundle.
Photo 52 - Unwrapping the laulau.
Photo 53 - Opening the package of banana leaves that
contained the pork butt.
Photo 54 - Succulent kalua pig! The pork was so tender that
only two forks were used to shred the meat into pieces.
This article was first published in Wilderness
Way magazine (Volume 11, Issue 1)
E-mail your comments to "Dino Labiste" at KahikoArts@yahoo.com
© PrimitiveWays 2005