Boiled Ham
Appetizers Pork Easter Recipes Romanian
I managed to keep my promise and post this recipe before Catholic Easter. Actually it's not really a recipe, I only did the easy part. The hard part was done by my grandmother in January, when she kept the pork leg in brine for a while, then gave it a few short smokes and finally hung it in a cold pantry to dry. Now she cut me a piece for a small demonstration, but for Orthodox Easter, we will boil the whole ham for 6 hours (until the bone comes out easily from the meat), after which we will press it. So your mission is to get a real ham, naturally salted and smoked, and you will have the best appetizer on your Easter table. Don't resort to artificially smoked ham, with additives and who knows what in it, because you won't get the taste and texture of the natural one.
Ingredients
1 piece of ham (1 kg)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon peppercorns
How to prepare boiled ham
- The day before, put the ham in water to desalt. Leave it until the next day, changing the water several times during this time. Wash the ham well under running water.
- Put the ham to boil in water that completely covers it. Add the bay leaf and pepper.
- Boil over low heat until a fork goes in easily (in my case 2.5 hours). The cooking time depends on the size of the piece of meat and how young the pig was. If the ham has a bone, you can check like this: if the bone comes out easily from the meat, the ham is done.
- Let the ham cool in the water it was boiled in.
- Remove from the water, clean off the fat (if desired, it's not mandatory), wrap in plastic wrap and place in a large dish. Because the meat fibers separate during boiling, place weights on top to press it. Leave in the refrigerator until you want to consume it (I left it overnight).
- The ham is served with horseradish cream, feta cheese, green onions and radishes, alongside of course the red Easter eggs.
The ham boiling
Boiled ham
Ham trimmed of fat
