Asian Pineapple Glazed Ham

Try out this Asian-inspired pineapple glazed ham if you want to make a traditional glazed ham with something new, while staying just as hearty and comforting. The glaze is made from brown sugar and pineapple juice, with a hint of gingery and garlicky taste, just like sweet chili sauce. It is super easy to prepare and a perfect centerpiece dish for the upcoming holidays. {Gluten-Free Adaptable}

After living in the US for more than 4 years, my cooking style has changed quite a bit. I’ve started to cook more American food, especially when it comes to the holiday season. Sometimes I add Asian elements to American comfort food, to keep the dish interesting while maintaining a level of comfort. This Thanksgiving we made curried green bean casserole and it was a big hit. This Christmas we’re thinking about serving Peanut Butter Eggnog Milk Tea, Soft Cinnamon Rolls with Sesame, Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup, Asian Pear Salad, and this gorgeous Pineapple Glazed Ham.

Why this recipe

Cooking a whole bone-in ham is intimidating. It’s an expensive cut of meat and you definitely want a reliable recipe for it.

• It’s super easy to put together.
• The result is a beautiful shiny, sticky glaze that is interesting enough to be different from your traditional glazed ham but still comforting enough for your guests.
• You can use either spiral-cut ham or skin-on ham, and fully cooked or partially cooked ham. The instructions for each of these are included in the recipe.
• You can make the glazed ham in advance and reheat it on the day of your party, further reducing your pressure as host.

Ingredients you need

You can see the ingredients for the glaze in the picture below.

If you’ve been cooking Chinese recipes from my blog, you probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry. If not, you can find most of them in a regular grocery store.

The only tricky ingredient might be the Shaoxing wine. You can replace it with dry sherry (possible to find in most liquor stores) or rice wine (Japanese sake). If you prefer not to use alcohol, you can skip the wine altogether.

The chili garlic sauce adds a nice touch to the sauce to make it aromatic and garlicky. You can also use Sriracha or another hot sauce you prefer. You can find chili garlic sauce in many regular grocery stores such as Whole Foods, Asian grocery stores, or on Amazon.

What type of ham to use

There are a few types of ham you could use for this recipe.

Bone-in, fully-cooked, spiral-cut ham

It means the ham is cured, smoked, cooked, and ready to eat right out of the package. It’s also pre-cut into slices which makes it easier to serve. It means that you simply need to heat up the ham and serve it.

This recipe uses a low temperature, to ensure the glaze will thicken and the surface will be browned, while maintaining a juicy texture without drying out the meat.

I recommend this cut if you want to use the minimal prep and cooking time (like I did!).

Bone-in, fully-cooked, skin-on ham

The ham is cured, smoked, and fully cooked with the skin on. You will need to remove the skin and score the fat into a crosshatch pattern before brushing on the glaze and baking. It might sound intimidating but is actually very easy to do. Watch this video to see how.

The benefit of this method is that the ham is intact and has a layer of fat. The fat will keep the interior extra juicy once baked.

I recommend this cut if you want to achieve the best result but do not mind a bit of extra work.

Bone-in partially-cooked ham

The ham is cured and smoked but requires further cooking. I don’t see a reason to use this cut, since it requires more cooking time. But I’ve included the method in the recipe, in case this is what you have available.

How much ham to buy

To determine the amount of ham to buy, you need to decide whether you want to serve it as a main dish or alongside other main courses.

With other main courses

1 lb (1/2 kg) per 4 people (minus the bone-in part, which is usually 2 lbs / 1 kg), with 4 oz. (120 g) per person

• A 6-lb (3 kg) ham serves 16 people
• A 8-lb (3.5 kg) ham serves 24 people
• A 10-lb (4.5 kg) ham serves 32 people

Ham as the only main course

1 lbs (1/2 kg) per 2 people (minus the bone-in part, which is usually 2 lbs / 1 kg), with 8 oz. (250 g) per person

• A 6-lb (3 kg) ham serves 8 people
• A 8-lb (3.5 kg) ham serves 12 people
• A 10-lb (4.5 kg) ham serves 16 people

Of course, you can always prepare a bit more so you will have leftovers to make other delicious ham dishes after the holiday.

How to make the glaze

You can make the glaze by simply combining all the ingredients for it in a saucepan and boiling it for 5 minutes. The sauce will thicken a bit once cooked, and a bit more once chilled.

There is one more step you can do to make your ham extra glazy.

Add a cup of pineapple juice into your roasting pan. It will catch the juices and glaze that drip down from the ham. Once you’re done cooking, the pan drippings will form a thick, sticky sauce. You will apply that sauce to the finished ham, to give it a final thick layer of glaze for that glossy look.

Cooking process

• Set up the ham on a wire rack in a roasting pan. Brush the glaze all over the ham.
• I usually apply 2 to 3 layers of glaze on the first pass, to make sure the ham is fully covered.
• Glaze the ham every 20 minutes.
• You will see the ham start to get charred after 1 hour or so.
• If the top of the ham starts to get too browned, cover with an aluminum dome to prevent burning.
• Once done, the ham will be beautifully browned all over and juicy inside.

Like I mentioned earlier, you will apply the pan juices onto the ham once the ham is baked, to give it an extra shiny and juicy look.

Other Asian inspired Christmas recipes

• Sichuan Roasted Whole Chicken 
• The Best Slow Roast Duck
• Cantonese Roast Chicken
• Candied Walnuts with Spice
• Easy Milk Bread Rolls
• Peanut Butter Eggnog Milk Tea

If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.

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Asian Pineapple Glazed Ham

5 from 1 vote

Try out this Asian-inspired pineapple glazed ham if you want to make a traditional glazed ham with something new, while staying just as hearty and comforting. The glaze is made from brown sugar and pineapple juice, with a hint of gingery and garlicky taste, just like sweet chili sauce. It is super easy to prepare and a perfect centerpiece dish for the upcoming holidays. {Gluten-Free Adaptable}

To make the dish gluten-free, use dry sherry to replace the cooking wine, and use tamari or coconut aminos to replace the soy sauce.

Author: Maggie Zhu

Course: Main

Cuisine: asian american fusion

Keyword: Chirstmas, easter

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 to 16

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Ingredients

• 6 to 8 lbs (2.7 kg to 3.6 kg) bone-in ham (partially or fully cooked, skin-on or spiral cut) (*Footnote 1)
• 1 cup pineapple juice

Sauce

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 inches (5 cm) ginger , sliced
• 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine (Optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (or 6 whole cloves)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Instructions

Prepare the glaze

• Combine the sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until bringing to a boil. Boil for 5 to 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Set aside to cool.

Bake the ham

• Preheat oven to 325 °F (162 °C). Set up a roasting pan with a wire rack. Pour 1 cup of pineapple juice into the bottom of the pan.
• (OPTIONAL) If the ham has a thick layer of skin, remove it by running a knife across the leg, cutting through the skin without cutting the meat, and peeling off the skin with your hand. Then you can slice your ham in diagonal lines 1” (2.5 cm) apart, 1/2” (1 cm) deep, to create the crosshatch pattern.
• Place your prepped ham on the rack. Brush it with the glaze. Bake it for 10 minutes per pound (0.45 kg) if the ham is fully cooked. It will take about 1 to 1.5 hours to cook the ham through. Or bake 25 minutes per pound (0.45 kg) for a partially cooked ham. It will take about 2-3 hrs to cook the ham through in this case.
• Baste the ham every 20 minutes. If you’ve used up all the sauce, you can baste it with the juice from the pan. If the juice in the pan starts to get too thick, add some water to it to prevent burning.
• Once the ham is baked (the internal temperature has reached 135 °F / 57 °C) and the glaze is caramelized, remove the pan from the oven.
• On the bottom of the pan, the drippings should have formed a thick glaze. Spoon those drippings over top of the cooked ham until fully covered. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving and serving.

Store & Reheat

• You can make the ham up to 4 days in advance and reheat it the day you serve it. If you plan to make the ham ahead of time, you should skip the final glaze and save the pan drippings in an airtight container.
• To reheat the ham, cover it loosely with foil and reheat it in a 325 °F (162 °C) oven until it’s warm throughout, 5 minutes per pound (0.45 kg). It takes about 30 minutes to warm up a 6-lb (2.7 kg) ham and 50 minutes for a 10-lb (4.5 kg) ham. Note, you don’t want to heat up the ham too much, as it will cause the meat to dry out.
• Heat up the glaze in a microwave. Brush the glaze over the ham once it’s warmed up.

Notes

1. You can use this recipe to cook bigger hams as well. Double the sauce if you plan to cook a ham that is heavier than 8 lbs (3.6 kg).
2. The nutrition facts are calculated based on 1 of the 16 servings generated by an 8-lb (3.6 kg) ham.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 383kcal, Carbohydrates: 47.4g, Protein: 24.1g, Fat: 12.5g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 75mg, Sodium: 1811mg, Potassium: 33mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 25.4g, Calcium: 10mg

Did You Make This Recipe?Don't forget the last step! Leave a comment below, and tag me @OmnivoresCookbook and #OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram!

Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.