Boil-Up (Māori Pork, Pūhā, and Doughboys)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 8-quart stockpot or Dutch oven with a tight lid
• •Wide skimmer or spoon for clearing the broth
• •Soup ladle for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the bones

   Put the pork bones in a heavy pot with the cold water, onion, garlic, bay leaves if using, salt, and pepper. Bring it up slowly, then lower to a steady simmer. Skim the gray foam from the top until the broth clears and the pork smell turns clean and rich.

   Meaty neck bones give the best broth for the money. Ask for bones with meat still clinging on, because that is what makes the pot generous.
2. 2

   Simmer it deep

   Let the bones simmer gently for about 1 hour 45 minutes, partly covered, until the meat starts to loosen and the broth has a glossy ring of pork fat on top. Keep the water level just above the bones. Don't boil it wild. A hard boil makes the broth cloudy and the meat tight.

3. 3

   Add the roots

   Add the kūmara, potatoes, and carrots. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges of the kūmara soften but the pieces still hold their shape. In Aotearoa, kūmara carries old canoe memory in a colder land, so treat it kind. Big chunks, gentle pot.

4. 4

   Mix doughboys

   While the roots cook, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Rub in the cold butter or pork fat with your fingertips until the flour feels like rough sand, then stir in the cold water or milk just until a soft, sticky dough forms. Stop there. Work it too much and the doughboys come out tough.

   The dough should be softer than bread dough and firmer than batter. If it looks dry, wet your hand and fold it once or twice, no need fuss.
5. 5

   Drop the dumplings

   Taste the broth and salt it where it needs. Drop spoonfuls of dough over the surface, leaving room for them to swell. Cover the pot and simmer 12 to 15 minutes without lifting the lid, until the doughboys are puffed, set through, and heavy with broth.

6. 6

   Fold in greens

   Add the pūhā or watercress around the doughboys and press it down into the broth. Cover again for 5 to 8 minutes, just until the greens darken, soften, and lose their raw bite. Pūhā has a proud bitterness, same as some aunties have a proud mouth. You want it softened, not erased.

7. 7

   Serve the pot

   Lift the bones, roots, greens, and doughboys into deep bowls, then ladle the glossy broth over everything. Put the pot in the middle if the table is close enough. This is not one precious portion. It is kai for the whānau, and there should be enough broth for somebody to come back with bread.

Chef Tips

• •If you gather pūhā yourself, know the plant with certainty and pick from clean ground, away from roadsides, spray, and runoff. If you don't know, buy watercress and ask a Māori aunty or kaumātua, elder, to teach you the proper plant.
• •Pūhā can be rubbed under running water or blanched briefly if its bitterness is strong. Don't wash all the character out of it. That green edge is part of why the pork tastes right.
• •Smoked pork bones, bacon hocks, or a little corned beef can sit in this pot too. That's how island food lives now, old gathering and new pantry in the same bowl. Keeper, not gatekeeper.
• •Kūmara cooks faster than potato and falls apart if you bully it. Keep the simmer gentle once the roots go in, and cut the potato a little smaller if your kūmara is very tender.

Advance Preparation

• •Simmer the pork bones a day ahead, chill the broth, and lift off only the excess fat. Keep some fat in the pot, because that gloss carries flavor.
• •Trim and wash the pūhā or watercress the morning of, then wrap it in a damp towel and keep it cold.
• •Mix the dry doughboy ingredients ahead, but rub in the fat and add the liquid only when the pot is ready for them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 480g)