Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
To Steam a Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Run a small sharp knife into the ham close to the bone; if it smells pleasant, it's good.
Soak the ham in cold water for 24 hours, changing the water twice; 12 hours is usual for a Yorkshire ham.
Wash the ham thoroughly and trim any rusty parts.
Steam
Place the ham in a steamer over boiling water and steam until done.
Finish and serve
Remove the skin and sift bread-raspings over the ham.
Place a frill of paper around the knuckle and serve.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Forms the main body of the dish, supplying the savoury meat that the steaming cooks through.
- Cold water
- Soaking draws out surface salt from the cured ham, making it milder before cooking.
- Bread-raspings
- Dry crumbs that add a light crisp texture over the moist, steamed surface.
The step that matters
Soak the ham in cold water for 24 hours, changing the water twice. Cured ham carries a lot of salt. Long soaking in fresh cold water draws salt out of the meat, so a short soak can leave the finished ham too salty.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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