Nuhi/Au Family Reunion 2012...

*Warning:  Some pictures may gross you out*

And another family reunion has come and gone but it was tons of fun!  Every two years my family from my Great grandpa and Great grandma Kahana's side come together to catch up with one another, eat onolicious Hawaiian food made entirely by our family and to just have plain fun. 

{Naysa, Belinha, Dezi, Ian, Kia'i}

Every reunion my family makes (from scratch) the delicious Hawaiian food that everyone can't wait to grind on.  And that includes the pig.  My uncle brings a pig every year and shows the family (who can stand to watch) how to make Kalua pig from beginning to end.  Last year was a little scary with the pig running off and the men chasing it down with it's neck slit wide open!  Believe me everyone was shocked to say the least.  So this year was improved upon.  They tied up the pig, shot it in the head, then slit the throat.  I liked it much better since you couldn't actually hear it squealing from the pain.  It was already dead.

After that they bled it out, poured hot boiling water on the skin then scraped the skin and hair off using the back of a knife.  I was proud that I got in on the action too.  It stunk to high heaven but at least I can say I helped.

The remainder of the hair of shaved off using a woman's shaver.  That's Gil in the orange shirt.  Then it was torched or burnt slightly to take off any excess hair and the toenails.

Then it was time to gut and rinse.  Gil did the gutting.  It was too gross so I didn't post pictures but here they are rinsing the whole thing out.  Then they wrapped it in bed sheets, hung it from a tree for some hours (I'm guessing to dry it out?)  I never asked about that part, then put it in the Imu which was prepped earlier that day.  It cooked over night and was shredded the next day right before we served.  It sure was good.

I love that my family gets together and we can experience all these things.  I am definitely more grateful for the Kalua pig that I eat now, now that I know all the hard work that actually goes into it.  Another 2 more years and the fun can begin all over again!