Jamón Ibérico aka Iberian Ham

When Ruedi and I visited Spain last summer, we were introduced to jamón ibérico or Iberian ham, a Spanish and Portuguese delicacy that is a popular favorite among anyone who digs a good cut of meat. Both Ruedi and I had been to Spain in our single days and hadn't come across it, but we had much leaner travel budgets at the time. As far as I'm aware, acorn-fed jamón ibérico is as good as it gets in the Spanish ham community. Once weened, piglets are fed a diet of maize and barley and then released into fields where they graze on grass, acorns, roots and other available vegetation. Pigs that only feed on olives and acorns have a richer meat and become the chosen few. The pork is salted and air-dried for anywhere from twelve to forty-eight months before various parts are sold. A leg of jamón can retail from anywhere between one-hundred to one-thousand euros a pop. Bite on that meaty investment!

Ruedi's now living in Barcelona temporarily and his relocation presented an opportunity of sorts. Not one to pass up good eats, he was directed to El Charro a jamón retailer where he purchased the leg he's so proudly displayed to me on my arrival. He and his roommate and friend will be eating this for eons. 

  

Of course, one needs a carving stand and knife for their ham. Enter El Corte Inglés with a wide array of equipment selections that range in quality and price, depending on your requirements. 

When we've had it at restaurants it's been thinly sliced and served neat. Jamón ibérico has so many earthy, nutty dimensions, there isn't a need for any other ingredients, although wine is a fantastic idea!

La Tienda offers Spanish eats to North Americans, including Canadians! Yeah! Man, I get bummed when sites like these ship everywhere but my homeland. Of course, you pay a premium for an import like this, but I may succumb to the temptation in a year's time after a long jamón hiatus.

Post Script (March 15th) : Just found Lola & Miguel, an online retailer selling Spanish delicacies to Canadians. Bliss.

Hunan Tofu..or Hunan Chicken, Beef or Seafood if you prefer.

Lessons learned from this recipe:

• You can over-fry tofu. In an attempt to get the golden-brown color pictured on the recipe's original website, I let the tofu sit in oil too long. Take a look at the picture of the tofu to your right for what not to do. If you follow the time guidelines, you shouldn't have this problem and  your tofu should look a bit more like this:

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/fried-tofu-recipe.php

• This dish can easily evolve into a very salty dish. This is likely the only meal I've cooked where I would use reduced salt soya sauce.
• Whether there is a typo in the recipe I followed or not, I thought it called for too much pepper for my liking. I've adjusted the recipe to suit my tastes. On the other hand, I was using pre-ground and relatively fine pepper for the first time in ages, which I wouldn't do again. 

If tofu isn't your thing, substitute it with chicken, fish, seafood (shrimp would rock this dish) or beef and saute the meat in a bit of oil as opposed to frying it. 

Despite a few errors in the making, I loved this dish. I took the entire thing to work and ate it all week. It's one of the few I've made that has a sauce that's restaurant quality. I ate this with long grain brown rice, but any kind of noodle or other rice would be lovely too. I will be making this again, factoring in all of the points above. 

Adapted from: http://userealbutter.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup country ham, julienned
• 1 T Chinese cooking wine or sherry
• 20 oz of firm tofu plus oil for frying
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 3 green onions, julienned
• 2 red chilis seeded and sliced thin
• 1 T garlic, minced
• 3 T chinese black bean sauce
• 1 tsp of ground black pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1t dark soya sauce
• 1/2 t sesame oil
• 1 t cornstarch
• 1 T water

Method

Mix the ham and wine/sherry in a bowl and set aside to soak. Cut the tofu into half-inch thick slices. Pat the tofu dry.  Cover the interior surface of a large frying pan with a good dose of oil and heat on high. Once hot, add the tofu to the oil a few pieces at a time, frying for 2 minutes on each side. Remove and set on paper towel, adding more to the pan as space becomes available. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan or wok on high. Once heated, saute the onions, chili and garlic for about a minute. Add the black bean sauce, pepper and the ham. Stir in the chicken broth, soya sauce  and sesame oil. Mix the cornstarch and water together in a bowl. When the liquid begins to boil, add the cornstarch mixture, reducing the heat to let the contents simmer until it thickens. Add the tofu, coating it with the sauce and let simmer for another 2 minutes. Serve with long grain rice or noodles.