Cooking Fresh Ham

[Corinna]

Hello! I am new to eGullet and the China forum, but have really enjoyed reading through some of the threads here. I love learning about cooking food from different cultures, because I finds this informs my cooking overall. It's great to have access to so many ingredients and techniques!

My friend has a fresh ham (weighing approx 4 lbs) in his freezer that he wants me to cook up one of these cold winter days to cure our cabin fever. Through some internet research, I have learned that the Chinese have many good uses for this. I've found an interesting recipe for "Red Cooked Fresh Ham" in Irene Kuo's The Key to Chinese Cooking, and would be grateful for any tips that those experienced in cooking Chinese food can give me.

I'm planning to serve the ham with boiled rice and two vegetables (one green, and something else.) I live outside Ithaca, so I have access to several good Asian markets. I will choose the exact veggies when I see what looks good and is reasonably priced. (I will also browse through the forum further to get ideas of this.) Any suggestions for this will be much appreciated as well.

I will, of course, happily report back on the meal (with photos if my camera cooperates.) Thank you!

[XiaoLing]

Yummm....I love red braised fresh ham....

My grandmother makes one of the best.

In restaurants, you will see that a lot of times they have fried it to reduce the cooking time. But either way, it's a tedious process since we usually cook it until it the fat has melted and the meat falls off the bone. Yummmmmmmmmm.....

A simple but delicious recipe would be to par boil the ham. Afterwards, cut the skin in cross hatches so that the sauce can go into the meat. In a pot big enough for the ham, add soy sauce, stock, water, star anise, asian cinnamon stick, dried red chillis, sugar, rice wine, ginger, garlic, and pepper. Once the sauce has been heated up, submerge the entire ham in the liquid and turn down the heat. Let it simmer in low heat for a couple of hours. (Yea, it takes a while. The time might change depending on your stove and heat. A slow cooker/crockpot might be useful in this. ) Make sure to check to see that the liquid hasn't compeltely reduced, if it has reduced, please add water.

For veggies, I would just do a simple green veggie garlic stir fry to compliment the dish. Since the pork would be highly spiced, a simple stir fry would work perfectly.

Post pics to let us know how it turned out!

[Corinna]

Thanks, Xiao Ling. This is useful advice. The recipe you suggest is very similar to the I have, which confirms in my mind that it's probably a good way to go. I will check to see if the ham will fit in the slow cooker.

Do you have any idea about how long to cook a ham about 4 lbs?

Also, I love your idea of a garlicky green stir fry as a side.

Thanks again!

[Corinna]

The ham was a success. (Sorry, I wasn't able to take any photos.) I combined the recipe above with the one in my cookbook. Using the crockpot was a great idea. Beautiful combination of seasonings made for a wonderful break from the ordinary (for upstate NY) and from the cold weather. I made spicy eggplant and stir fried bok choy side dishes. I am happy to have these leftovers!

[XiaoLing]

I am so glad you enjoyed it!!!

I was hoping for some pics but I guess there's always next time!