Putting down a Hāngi at the Brick

Last night the community was treated to a traditional style Maori hangi at the Brick. People trickled in all afternoon, inspecting the coals and pile of mud in anticipation.

Games of frisbee and cricket were played on the street and many beers were drunk. Until there was movement ... shovels ... and the unveiling began.

This was my first experience of a Hangi ... I wasn't too sure what to expect as they were shoveling away the dirt, but then came sheets of cloth ...

Followed by layers of heshen sacks.

Then wire baskets were removed from the steaming pit. The top one containing potatoes and cabbage. As the next baskets were being removed, it was as if they were holding little treasures. Each one clearly containing something different, but everything was wrapped in Fuku leaves, which are a type of wild plant that has a stem like rhubarb and giant lilly like leaves.

The first basket to be attacked contained the potatoes and cabbage.

I did manage to take a plate and chopsticks from the pile, but somehow completely failed to get any salad at all ... must have consciously been saving more room for meat!

Oh, the meat. Whole chickens with stuffing, roast lamb with rosemary and roast pork with pumpkin, cinnamon, thyme & sugar.

Lucky I saved all that room with no salad, as the first plate disappeared in a flash, and seconds ... then thirds, soon followed.

The roast chicken was so moist, steamed under the earth with so much natural flavor. The pork and pumpkin combo just perfect. The roast lamb, ahhhh, reminds me of home. The potatoes, would have like to have some sour cream and chives to slather on top, they were just lacking any character - possibly due to the fact they are last seasons harvest ... We are eagerly awaiting delicious new season Kutchan potatoes. But the cabbage, oh ... my ... goodness. This humble little vegetable was the standout amongst the crowd for the whole night. The core was removed and filled with butter and Mae Ploy Thai Green Curry Paste. The cabbage was meltingly tender, oh-so-buttery and with a nice hint of spice. Genius!

When Waza - Niseko's resident Kiwi - is on point, he has some moments of sheer genius. Take his bagels for instance .... don't even get me started on the Jalapeno popper bagels.

Let's hope we can convince Waza to make this a regular thing during Summer.

the Brick

Open Tuesday nights in Summer for darts and burgers

Open late Winter, serving kebabs, burgers and 500yen drinks

& sporadically throughout the year for random dance parties and Hangi

Summer shu-making

A stop in to see Ioanna and Hisashi one night times in nicely with the 1 year anniversary of Pelican Burger, as well as the 1 year anniversary of their first attempt at making ume-shu. A handful of friends are around, and we're drinking shu late into the night ... much fun! and this is all that's left:



but it inspired us the following weekend to meet at Ionna's and start on the next batch for next year's party. First we pick up some supplies, including bottles, rock sugar, white liquor and various fruits;



for the ume's, we're doing 2 different varieties. One a little sweeter, and another trying out pricking the ume's before placing them in the jar, to see if this boosts the flavor.



Once the fruit was pricked it was piled into the jar and topped with the rock sugar and then in goes the white liquor ...



We also did a pot of cherry and a pot of lemon-shu.



We all cheer's to our efforts ....



and Ioanna makes a plate of Shin Sapporo blue cheese, ricotta and dried tomato. mmmmm



It's been so hard looking at these shu's developing up on the shelf but knowing we have to wait a year before we can savour the hard labour, so we decided to make a new one each month, so that next summer there will be a new one to drink each month ....

Panzanella

Niseko in summer ... beautiful. The abundance of vibrant fresh vegetables ... amazing !!



After a stop at the bakery we had a bag full of bread ... we then stopped at Viewplaza where we were so inspired by what we saw and decided on a panzanella for dinner. With another couple of bags full of vegetables, and a baby basil plant we were set.



The bread was chopped, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper before being toasted in the oven until golden. All of the other fresh veggies were washed and chopped.



The dressing was made from wine vinegar, chopped garlic, lemon juice, dijon mustard and seasoned with salt and pepper and a good splash of virgin oil was mixed through.



The salad, bread and dressing were all combined before we settled into the couch to enjoy this simple, but extraordinary combination.



Summer Panzanella

1 loaf of bread, cut into cubes
3 large tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 Spanish onion
2 garlic cloves
3-4 baby peppers (capsicum) in various colours
Dijon mustard
Caperberries
salt
pepper
olive oil
Picked baby basil leaves

1. Toss the bread cubes in olive oil, salt and pepper. Toast at 170C until golden brown.
2. Wash and prepare vegetables. Cut tomato, cucumber and peppers into cubes.
3. Peel and slice red onion into long, thin slices.
4. Cut a few caperberries in half.
5. Make dressing by chopping the garlic clove. Add to bowl with lemon juice, vinegar, salt & pepper before slowly mixing in olive oil.
6. Toss all ingredients in a bowl with the dressing, and finish with picked baby basil.