Five-spice and plum-glazed gammon

Ingredients:

• 2-3kg smoked gammon
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 star anise
• 2 tsp (10ml) fennel seeds
• 6 whole black peppercorns

Glaze:

• 4-6 ruby plums, deseeded and diced
• ½ cup (125ml) brown sugar
• 1 tsp (5ml) five-spice powder
• 2 star anise
• Salt

• Handful cloves, for studding

Method

1. Place gammon, onion and spices in a large pot and cover with water.
2. Place a side plate over gammon to keep it submerged and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 2-2½ hours. (For smaller gammons, boil gammon 20-25 minutes per 500g.)
3. Cool gammon in liquid.
4. Heat glaze ingredients in a saucepan until sugar has dissolved.
5. Boil for 15 minutes or until mixture forms a jammy consistency. Cool.
6. Blitz with a stick blender and strain through a sieve to form a smooth sauce.
7. Lift gammon from liquid and remove skin with a small paring knife, leaving ½ cm of fat.
8. Score fat in a diamond pattern and stud the centre of each diamond with a clove.
9. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
10. Place gammon on a foil-lined baking tray and brush with glaze.
11. Bake gammon, glazing often, until heated through and a deep burnished bronze colour.
12. Serve gammon warm or at room temperature.

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