Ham it up! This glorious glaze will take your festive ham to super-star status.
Ingredients
- 8kg cooked leg ham
- 8 star anise
- 250g jar plum jam
- 1/3 cup shao hsing Chinese cooking wine (see note)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2cm piece fresh ginger, sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
Equipment
- You'll need 8 toothpicks, cut in half.
Method
- Step 1Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Cut through ham rind 8cm from shank. Run thumb underneath rind to separate from fat. Peel back and remove rind. Using a small sharp knife, score fat diagonally at 3cm intervals to form a diamond pattern. Using two toothpicks for each one, attach star anise to ham. Wrap shank end in foil.
- Step 2Place jam, wine, soy sauce, sugar, ginger and five spice in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until jam has melted. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Stand for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a heatproof jug. Discard ginger.
- Step 3Place ham on a wire rack in a roasting pan. Add boiling water to pan until 2cm up sides of pan. Brush ham with 1/4 of the jam mixture. Bake, basting with remaining jam mixture every 20 minutes, for 1 hour 30 minutes or until ham is golden. Remove and discard toothpicks and foil. Serve.
- High protein
- Low carb
Nutrition
2322 kj
Energy
18g
Fat Total
81g
Protein
262mg
Cholesterol
9062.5mg
Sodium
24g
Carbs (sugar)
27g
Carbs (total)
Notes
Chinese cooking wine is available from Asian grocery stores. You could use dry apera (sherry) instead.
When scoring ham, be careful not to cut too deeply, otherwise fat will melt and spread while ham is cooking.
An 8kg ham will serve 12 people with leftovers.
Use a silicone pastry brush to baste ham to avoid bristles sticking to glaze.
Store leftover ham in the fridge wrapped in a tea towel rinsed in water and a little vinegar. Wring out well. Change the tea towel daily.
- Author: Claire Brookman
- Image credit: Mark O'Meara
- Publication: Super Food Ideas