A Kalua Turkey Thanksgiving

Who wants to be the Thanksgiving galley slave in a hot kitchen when the sun is shining, the ocean temperatures rival bath water, and there’s a long list of college football games to be enjoyed? Locals shrug off the cooking responsibilities by helping local schools and charities by participating in a community Thanksgiving cooked in an imu, Hawaii's traditional underground oven. The process entails a bit of pre-planning, a bird, an aluminum roasting pan, aluminum foil and a couple of visits to the imu site.

Imu sponsors provide the labor to prepare and attend to the imu throughout the overnight cooking process, along with drop-off and pick-up support and all the rocks and banana and ti leaves to make it all come together perfectly.

Typically the bird, should be completely thawed and seasoned. It should not exceed twenty-two pounds. Come to the imu with the bird unstuffed, in a roasting pan, and wrapped in foil with your name and telephone number on it. Since roasting takes place overnight, turkeys are usually required to be dropped off on the Wednesday afternoon or evening preceding Thanksgiving Day.  Don’t forget to add sweet potatoes, taro or even yams for the side dishes. Some even throw in a pork butt or two to get a head start on lau lau for Christmas gift giving.

After the imu is opened, it is lined with rocks, dampened kiawe wood, and warmed up slowly. When the pit is warm enough, the turkeys are added and covered with the ti and banana leaves and several layers of tarp. Over the hours of slow-cooking, the smoke is eventually replaced with steam that results in a moist bird with a distinctive smoky, Polynesian flavor.

The real fun starts when the imu is covered for overnight cooking. Folks gather throughout the night to attend to the pit. Many will gather with coolers filled with cold beer and fresh poke. Not unusual is one or more islanders with ukuleles in tow. Most bring beach chairs, good conversation, lots of aloha spirit, and hula moves. Before you know it, imu cooking resembles a an all-night Polynesian tailgate party. Imu roasting is highly forgiving so it's more about the fun, community gathering, and holiday spirit than it is about culinary expertise. The hardest thing about a holiday imu is getting in on the action. Seemingly scarcer each year, it helps to know someone or ask around to find a pit near you.