What animal's leg is Spanish ham?
It's a pig leg, usually Iberian white pig.
Spaniards like to eat raw ham, and the grades are of course very different. The so-called "ham Jamón" refers to the hind legs, while the "front leg Paletta" has less meat and harder meat. The common one is "Jamón Serrano", which is made of common white pig legs and then air-dried. After more than a year of air drying and aging, the more advanced mountain ham is rich and delicious. Almost all raw hams in Spain are seasoned with coarse salt, and they are only naturally dried. There are few smoked hams, which are very simple and natural.
Processing technology of Spanish ham
1. Raw material selection: Iberian pigs have medium body length, medium bones, straight waist and plump buttocks. They generally feed on acorns, in which high content of amylose is absorbed by pigs to produce a lot of fat. After a few months, the meat is the most plump and suitable for slaughter.
2. Pre-cooling of ham finishing: take out the pig thigh, keep the oil film on the muscle surface intact, pre-cool for 24 hours, and weigh and select qualified samples.
3. Pickling: This is the key technology. Knead the ham with local fine salt and coarse salt, then cover the coarse salt with a shovel and pickle it at 2-4℃ and humidity of 85-95℃.
4. Cleaning and natural air-drying: clean the surface of ham except the attached salt, and then air-dry it naturally by dripping water.
5. Stamping: By beating the ham, it can promote the fusion of fat layer and muscle tissue, reduce the separation of meat and fat, and make the ham more beautiful. Then stamp it. A general seal has two contents: the seal of hygiene license and the date of production.
6. Pre-curing: gradually reduce the humidity, and pre-cure the ham for 2-3 months, mainly to let the salt gradually penetrate into the muscle tissue layer and gradually reduce the water.
7. Curing: It takes about10 ~1month to gradually raise the temperature from 2-4℃ to 23℃.
8. Oil soaking: clean the mold before oiling and air dry it at the oil temperature of 120℃- 150℃. A quick and short infused oils can fill the cracked part with solidified fat. The main function of this process is to kill microorganisms and pests on the surface. Finally, put it on the shelf for fermentation.
9. Cellar storage: After experienced technology, the ham is inserted and tested, and then it is stored in the cellar. Generally, the stick they use is made of cattle femur, inserted into the part near the bone, and used the aftertaste to identify the quality of ham.
How to eat Spanish ham
1. Now cut and eat.
You'd better eat Spanish ham now. If you eat it directly, you'd better slice it.
Step 2: Serve with red wine.
If you like red wine, you can eat sliced Spanish ham as an appetizer.
Chinese chives
Slice the Spanish ham and fry it in a pan. When it's hot, add leeks.
fried dishes
Slice the Spanish ham and fry it in a hot pot. It will be fragrant and taste better.
Nutritional value of Spanish ham
The latest research shows that Spanish ham not only contains abundant vitamins B 1, B6 and B 12 needed by protein and human tissues, but also contains folic acid beneficial to human nervous system and brain and minerals such as copper, iron and phosphorus beneficial to bones.
Because black-hoofed pigs grow up eating acorns, almost half of the fat in Iberian ham contains natural oleic acid, which has a certain effect on treating cardiovascular diseases. In addition, Iberian ham is also rich in vitamin E (antioxidant). If eaten with tomatoes, the antioxidant effect doubles. Iberian ham contains 300 calories per100g, which is suitable for low-calorie diet.