“Sing to the LORD a new song,
His praise from the ends of the earth,
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You islands, and all who live in them.
Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;
Let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
Let them shout from the mountaintops.
Let them give glory to the LORD
And proclaim His praise in the islands.”
Isaiah 42:10-12
My wife Patsy and I were tremendously blessed this year to be able to travel to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. We went to visit family and celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday Hawaiian style. We joined my parents who had arrived earlier in the week and we all stayed with my Uncle John and Aunt Sally in the town of Kāne´ohe. We all had a wonderful time. I thought I’d share a couple of stories, a few pictures and some of our memories from our recent trip for anyone who might be interested.
(click on pic's to enlarge)
This was by far the most unusual and interesting Thanksgiving I’ve experienced, at least in the preparation of the main dinner entrée, our beloved turkey. Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving my uncle buttered and seasoned the turkey with Hawaiian sea salt and other spices, put it in a pan and covered it with multiple layers of aluminum foil. He then tied it up with some thick string like a Christmas package and we took it over to a former banana plantation that is now growing taro and sweet potatoes.
You may have heard of, or maybe even tasted, a Hawaiian dish called “Kālua pig”. It’s a dish in which the pig is cooked in a pit called an “Imu”; or “underground oven.” Well, in Hawaii they use the same manner of pit to cook their Thanksgiving turkey.
At the plantation an “Imu”, had been dug, it was about ten feet long, eight feet wide and two feet deep, dug in the red, hard, earth. It was filled with large pieces of Koa wood, a local hard wood endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, and used in this instance for its smoke flavoring. The wood was set on fire and allowed to burn until all the pieces were burning hot embers.
Next, they piled large Lava rock on top of the burning wood about two feet high and left it like that for hours, until the lava rock was red hot.
By the time the lava rock was red hot the majority of the wood had burned down and any large pieces of Koa that were left was then pulled out of the imu. With picks and shovels the rock was moved around to fill the imu and the mound was made level to the ground.
A pile of cut up banana tree stock was on hand and now was put over the lava rock to cover the entire imu. The banana stock has a lot of moisture, and will be used to steam and flavor the trays of meats that will next be placed on the imu.
This “Kālua Turkey-Cook” was a fundraiser for the local Boy Scouts. Each family which brought a tray of meat to be cooked paid a certain fee for the service, and all the money collected went to the local Scout troop. I believe there was approximately 90 trays of meat put on the imu that day, mostly turkey’s, but also some pork.
After the trays of meat have been placed on top of the banana stock they are completely covered with both banana and ti leaves, also used for flavoring. The leaves were then covered with large pieces of burlap that had been soaking in water all day. This is used for an added seal and also moisture in the steaming process.
Finally, a canvas tarp is tossed over the entire mound (which is now three feet high), and the edges of the tarp are sealed with the dirt that was dug out of the pit earlier that morning. The imu will be left to steam in the aromatic vapors of the wood and the leaves throughout the night, all the families will return in the morning to collect their Thanksgiving meats.
Uncle John and I returned Thanksgiving morning about seven a.m. to help distribute the trays of meat to the various families as they came to collect them. It didn’t take long, as people drove up the dirt road onto the plantation and came over to the table where we had been putting all the trays as we removed them from the imu. When all the trays were returned to their rightful owners we collected our own tray of awesome smelling turkey and went home to get the rest of our feast prepared. The turkey turned out fantastic; the meat was moist and flavorful and just fell off the bone. No carving needed on this one.
What a fantastic day it was, a day to remember the many blessings we have received not only this year but our entire lives. It was a day to truly give thanks to God our creator and provider, and to remind those who might otherwise take for granted such things as; their family, health, home, job, friends, food and most of all, the possibility of having a relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ, that He deserves our gratitude and devotion.
We spent Friday recovering from all the feasting and fun of the previous day, and also to get things ready for the Mexican style fiesta of food we had planned for Saturday evening.
Since we were in Hawaii and there is a shortage of authentic Mexican eateries on the island, we decided to take the opportunity to bless my uncle and aunt with some homestyle Mexican cooking (I say we but it was mainly my wife, my mother and father). My wife made chicken mole and some salsa, my mother made some of her chicken enchiladas, and my father made some of his awesome menudo. Add to that some tortillas, rice and beans and we were ready to get our grub on.
Saturday evening came and all the family gathered again, my uncle John and aunt Sally were our hosts for the evening. My cousin Janelle, her husband Chris and their two boys came from Mililani, my cousin Hauole, his girlfriend Norlin with their five children came from Honolulu, my cousin Janine and her husband Loa came from Laie, and my niece Andrea traveled over from Ewa Beach. My uncle also invited a handful of his friends and neighbors to come and join us for an authentic Mexican dinner and some Hawaiian hospitality. And there we all were, outside in the beautiful Hawaiian sunset, eating yet again.
It was a beautiful time with my wife and family and an experience I look forward to again in the near future. I hope you enjoyed the story and the pictures and I pray that each of you would be fortunate enough to have this type of experience in your own life with the people you love.
God Bless and Press On
Larry
