noun

• (in Hawaii) an underground oven in which meat and vegetables are cooked, traditionally by means of heated stones covered with vegetation.

  ‘kalua pig is usually the centerpiece of a Hawaiian luau, where it is cooked in an imu’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The taro was baked in an earth oven (an imu), then pounded with a stone pounder on a large wooden poi board.’
  • ‘But why quibble at a portrait so endowed with the "aloha spirit," for everyone is bright eyed and smiling, including the pig fresh from the imu.’
  • ‘On ceremonial occasions, there would be luaus at which largely Hawaiian food was served: poi, of course, and dried fish and shrimp, kalua pig baked in the imu, and a dessert made of coconut milk thickened with Polynesian arrowroot.’
  • ‘Luxuriate in a traditional Hawaiian ahaaina (feast), sampling such Hawaiian delicacies as pork laulau (pork wrapped in taro leaves, steamed in an imu, a hot-stone lined underground oven).’
  • ‘Guests can see a pig placed in the imu, or pit, with hot rocks and banana leaves, at 1 p.m. and then watch it taken out, roasted to perfection, at 6 p.m.’
  • ‘The Hawaiian imu is a familiar site to luau lovers; it's a pit filled with hot rocks that effectively roasts the food (in this instance, pork).’