The flavor of the New Year is strong and the ham is fragrant. Ham is a common delicacy on the New Year’s dinner table. In the first part, we introduced the differences of seven different kinds of ham with experimental data. In this part, we will continue to introduce how to buy, eat and store ham products for you who love ham.
Tips for shopping: look at the package, look at the skin, look at the meat, and smell.
Look at the packaging
Observe the varieties of ham marked on the package, such as Jinhua ham and Xuanwei ham; Choose ham for cooking or raw food as needed; Product packaging should be sealed without damage. It is recommended to choose products with independent small packages.
Look at the epidermis
High-quality ham has a dry skin and a hard cortex. Avoid buying hams with soft cortex, mildew, insects or mucus on the skin.
Look at the meat
High-quality hams are compact and elastic, with deep red section and bright and uniform color. Avoid buying hams with soft meat, uneven color in section and grayish brown or black.
Smell
High-quality ham products should not smell rancid, and if they have obvious odor, they may be inferior products.
The storage method of ham is determined by its "water activity"
Water activity is of great significance to food preservation. Usually, foods with high water activity need to be stored in cold storage, while foods with low water activity only need to be stored at room temperature in the dark.
In the long process of ham processing, water loss and water activity decreased. We tested the water activity of seven kinds of ham samples, and the results showed that: western ham samples > Chinese raw food samples > Chinese non-raw food samples. The reason is that the salt content is different. Chinese ham has higher salt content, which leads to lower water activity.
According to the data, except for two western-style hams with high water activity, they need to be stored in cold storage, and the other five hams only need to be stored at room temperature and away from light. We checked the nominal preservation method of the packaging bag, and it was consistent with the recommended preservation method of the test.
Different hams have different "correct opening methods"
In traditional Chinese cuisine, except Xuanwei ham and Nuodeng ham, ham is often used as a supporting role to improve the flavor of cuisine. In western countries, ham is mostly eaten raw, usually with wine or cheese, and is often used as a "starter" in western food.
Chinese ham is generally divided into five parts: top, Chinese side, fire hoof, fire claw and dripping oil. Above, it is the best part of meat quality, such as honey fire recipe; On the Chinese side, it can usually be shredded and paired with tendon sea cucumber to become a high-grade ham dish in traditional banquets; Fire hoofs, fire claws and dripping oil can be used for cooking or stewing soup.
We invited Jiang Yi, the vice-chairman of the French Association of Chefs in China, and the founder and president of TASCOVERY College of Cuisine, to contribute his recommended recipes for Chinese and western ham, so we don’t have to worry about not eating it when we meet ham.
Chinese style: jade white jade clip
Jade and white jade clip is a steamed dish with bright red, white and blue colors. The freshness of ham, the strange fragrance of lettuce and the sweetness of wax gourd blend with each other.
Ingredients: 100g of Jinhua ham, 300g of lettuce and 300g of wax gourd meat.
Accessories: 50 grams of ginger slices and 30 grams of onion segments.
Seasoning: 20 ml onion ginger cooking wine.
Practice:
1. Cut the top of ham, lettuce and wax gourd into pieces with a thickness of 0.2 cm, a width of 4 cm and a length of 8 cm;
2. Put them into the plate in turn, pour the onion and ginger cooking wine, and evenly spread the onion and ginger slices;
3. Put it in a steamer, steam it for 20 minutes after SAIC, remove the onion and ginger slices, and serve.
Western style: broccoli parma ham salad with citrus vinegar sauce.
It is a nutritious and delicious salad with Parma ham slices, smoked ham slices, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and arugula as the main raw materials, supplemented by self-made vinegar sauce.
Ingredients: Parma ham slices 60g, smoked ham slices 60g, broccoli 30g, cherry tomato 30g, arugula 15g.
Seasoning: 3g of salt, 10ml of honey, 30ml of virgin olive oil and 30ml of citrus juice.
Practice:
1. Heat the oil in the pot, add cherry tomatoes, and take them out of the pot for later use when the skins of the tomatoes are wrinkled;
2. Cut the large vegetables into small pieces, fold the ham slices appropriately, and then mix all the raw materials, as shown in the figure.
3. Making sauce: pour all seasonings into the jar and shake well until they are completely blended for use;
4. Pour the sauce into the dish and serve.