Honey-Glazed Cured Ham

Ingredients

• Jinhua cured ham (金華火腿)
• honey wine (蜜酒)

Instructions

1. Select a fine-quality cured ham. Cut it into large cubes retaining the skin. Braise (燜) the ham pieces in honey wine until they become extremely tender. This method yields the finest result.
2. Note on ingredient sourcing: Yuan Mei observes that although Jinhua, Lanxi, and Yiwu are renowned sources, many hams sold under these names lack authenticity. Poor-quality ham is inferior even to ordinary salted pork. The author recommends ham from the Wang family of the Zhongqing Lane in Hangzhou, priced at four qian per catty, as superior. Yuan Mei recalls eating such exceptional ham once at the residence of Minister Yin Wenduan in Suzhou—its fragrance filled the entire room, and its sweetness and freshness were extraordinary. He laments never encountering such a remarkable ingredient again.