Preparation
There are several methods of cooking a country ham including slicing and pan-frying, baking whole, and simmering for several hours (in several changes of water). Whole hams may need to be scrubbed and soaked for several hours before eating to remove the salt cure and mold. Even when soaked, they are still quite salty. For traditionalists, part of the appeal of country ham is this highly salty taste. Some eaters of country ham scrub, scrape, or pare off the outer crust of curatives, slice it, pan fry it, and eat it as is. Or they may fry the ham with the crust on. Some discard the crust; others consume it along with the meat.
Country ham is often served in restaurants as an entree as a whole slice, often with the femur cross-section left in. In addition, it is commonly used in a ham sandwich. It is also commonly served boned, sliced and then cut into pieces to be used in sandwiches in buttermilk (or similar) biscuits, sometimes with butter or red-eye gravy, made by adding water or coffee to country ham pan drippings and cooking down for a short time.
Country ham is in some ways similar to Italian uncooked prosciutto (prosciutto crudo), but prosciutto is not smoked, and is usually moister than a country ham. It is also usually sliced much thinner than the thicker traditional country ham "steaks" or even slices for sandwiches.
Some cookbooks on Chinese cooking produced in the West suggest that country ham can substitute for Chinese ham products such as Jinhua ham, being similar in flavor.
Read more about this topic: Country Ham
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