Title: Glazed Ham Slices (Hunanese) Wei-Chuan, Adapted
Categories: Chinese Pork
Yield: 1 Servings

1 1/2	lb	Country ham; 3" wide pieces
4	tb	Sugar
4	oz	Chinese red dates
1	ts	Guei hwa sauce; optional (I
		Don't know either)
6	tb	Sugar
2	tb	Rice wine; or sherry
1	tb	Lard
1	ts	Cornstarch
1	tb	Water
1/2	lb	White bread; unsliced

Remove skin from ham. Scrub ham clean. Simmer in water to cover for 30 min. Remove and drain.

Meanwhile, simmer dates in 4 c water for 15 min. Remove and drain.

Cut the ham into thin slices, 2.75 x 1.5 x 0.08" and arrange the slices in a heatproof bowl. Put down a layer of sugar and dates over the ham. Add guei hwa, remaining sugar, rice wine, and lard. Steam 2 hr in this bowl. Decant the juice off to a saucepan and invert the ham mold onto a hot serving plate.

Bring the juice to a boil. There should be 1 c or so; if there is not enough, add water to make up the difference. Add cornstarch dissolved in 1 T water and stir constantly until sauce is thickened. Pour sauce over ham.

Trim crusts from bread. Cut into 3/4" slices with a pocket (i.e., cut every 3/8", but cut all the way through only every second slice). Steam bread briefly and use to make sandwiches. The Hunanese actually use bread steamed from scratch for this purpose (take bread dough, almost completely unsalted, form it into rolls, and steam the rolls).

From: mloo@juno.com (Michael Loo)

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