百子櫃THE HUNDRED DRAWERS
Jinhua ham
金華火腿
The salt-cured ham of Jinhua in Zhejiang: dark red, hard, sliced thin or diced small to deepen a soup or a stuffing. It has nothing to do with the pressed ham in a café sandwich, which is cooked and mild; this is raw-cured, air-dried and very salty, and it has to be steamed or simmered before it is eaten. A little goes a long way — 40 g is enough for a whole pot.
Cautions: read first
- Very high in sodium. Use a little, and do not salt the pot it goes into until you have tasted it.
Preparation
Rinse, steam ten minutes to take the edge off the salt, then slice or dice.
Origin
Jinhua, Zhejiang. At Chinese grocers and dried-goods counters, vacuum-packed or cut to order. Without it, the hard end of a prosciutto does the same salty-savoury job, though it does not taste the same.
Availability in Australia
Easy to find
