Christmas Ham

CEBU, Philippines — Some families today are lucky to have the means of opting for more Christmas treats than the standard native delicacies. Especially in this time of globalization, when influences from other cultures and better incomes are a bit easier to come by, many homes would mimic a Western Christmas dinner fare – either for a change or as status symbol, or both.

Many Filipinos have since come to love and crave for the Christmas ham. To some, the ready ham sold in the supermarket is good enough. But others take it to a higher level – no Christmas ham would do except one cooked by Mama or Lola.

Yes, the Christmas ham has been embraced by many families as a Filipino Christmas dish, too. In fact many Filipinos who grew up with homemade ham at the dining table at Christmas consider Mama’s or Lola’s recipe as their standard for good Christmas ham. The Pineapple Glazed Ham has come to be the most popular Pinoy version of the Christmas ham.

Liza Agbanlog shares a recipe of Pineapple Glazed Ham at the website https://salu-salo.com.  It’s a bone-in ham boiled in a mixture of pineapple juice, brown sugar and water for an hour. Then, it is covered in pineapple jam and then baked in the oven until the skin and glaze is crisp and brown.

Her ham is so good and tender when thinly sliced. Moreover, the leftover ham slices are great when sprinkled with sugar and pan fried. The ham slices can be enjoyed with bread such as pan de sal or sliced bread. Here’s Liza Agbanlog’s recipe:

Pineapple Glazed Ham

Ingredients:

8 lbs bone-in ham

8 cups pineapple juice

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup water

1 cup pineapple jam

Procedure:

• In a bowl, dissolve brown sugar in water. Pour in a large stockpot together with the ham and pineapple juice. Make sure ham is fully submerged in juice, add more juice or water if needed.

• Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook for 1 hour. Set aside to cool.

• Transfer ham in a roasting pan, score skin and fat into diamond shapes. Spread pineapple jam all around the ham.

• Bake ham uncovered at pre-heated 400°F oven for 40 minutes or until well browned, basting once with juice from bottom of pan.

• Let ham stand covered for 15 minutes before carving.

The approximate preparation time is 10 minutes, the cooking time two hours. This recipe makes 10 servings.