I subscribe to Gourmet Traveller, an Australian food website. When I get a notification of a new publication, it always catches me off guard, because of course Australia is in a different hemisphere! Like a strawberry-lemon pie, and it’s December where I live! But this recent email notice had perfect timing – a ham cooked with a gochugang glaze, and topped with cherries. I couldnt’ wait to make it.

Being that it was November when I made this recipe, I didn’t have ripe cherries, so I bought canned cherries in a heavy syrup, but proceeded to soak and rinse them. I think that worked, although I’d love to make this ham recipe with fresh cherries some time.

The recipe can be found here. Chef Clare Maguire, who has worked with Chef Ottolenghi, is the recipe’s author. She states: “Two hours in the oven and you have a glazed wow moment for the main event followed by cold ham for days. Here we lean further into summer, infusing the Christmas classic with the spicy-sweet kick of gochujang, a Korean red chilli paste. And cherries, of course.”

This ham is excellent, and makes a holiday stunner for your dinner table. There’s lots of deep flavors plus some heat, but your brain doesn’t immediately go to gochujang. But it does go to delicious!

Gochujang-Glazed Ham with Cherries

Gochujang glaze:
6 ounces gochujang paste (see note)
8 ounces cherry jam (I used sour cherry jam)
1/2” piece ginger, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 bone-in leg ham
26 ounces black cherries, pitted (I used canned cherries, rinsed and dried off)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (my addition)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2” piece of ginger, finely grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For gochujang glaze, combine ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then set aside.

Use a small sharp knife to cut around ham rind 10cm from top of shank. Run knife under rind around edge of ham. Run your thumb underneath rind and above fat to separate edges all the way around. Starting from widest edge, gently pull back rind to remove. Score fat in straight lines at 2cm intervals – do not cut deeply or the fat will spread apart during cooking. (There is no mention of the weight of the ham, and only the hint of “bone-in.” So I really couldn’t follow the directions for the ham preparation.)

Place ham on a rack in a large roasting pan with a cup of water, then brush with glaze. Bake ham, brushing with glaze frequently, and rotating pan, until deep golden (1½-2 hours).

Meanwhile, combine cherries, soy, oil, garlic and ginger in a bowl; season to taste.

When ham has 40 minutes remaining, add cherries to roasting pan and cook until softened. (Of course, these are supposed to be ripe fresh cherries.)

To serve, transfer ham to a serving platter. Spoon over roasted cherries.

The ham is not only delicious, but also very pretty.