Over the holidays, baking a ham is a great way to get an easy dinner on the table that feels special and leftover ham is always useful for all kinds of meals. I made a full ham recently with a little twist on it. Instead of a normal sugar glaze i used this Bourbon Gochujang glaze for the ham.
The results of this glaze were a spicy/sweet ham that was very different than your standard baked ham.
There’s not a lot to this recipe, it’s very easy, but adds some unique flavor to your ham.
What is Gochujang?
If you aren’t familiar with Gochujang, it’s one of my favorite pantry ingredients. It’s a Korean chili paste that is a mix of fermented chiles, sugar, salt, and few other spices. It tends to be very thick and has a very strong flavor and so you need to thin it out before using it in most cases.
You used to only be able to find gochujang at Asian grocery stores, but recently I’ve noticed a few jars of it at my standard grocery store. The Asian grocers though have a wide variety of gochujang so you can try different ones.
This is my current favorite brand that I try to keep in the fridge.
If you are looking for where to find this paste, here’s a great reddit post on places to find it and what commercially available gochujang pastes are best.
What ham works well for this recipe?
There’s no hard and fast rule here when it comes to ham selection. If you are using this glaze though, I wouldn’t go with a ham that has been pre-glazed. If you have a honey baked ham, skip the glaze on it and replace it with this recipe. (or do half and half).
I would recommend getting a pre-sliced ham though which will make it easier to carve after baking. Plus, you can get some of the glaze in between slices which amps up the flavor even more.
Preparing the glaze
This is a very simple glaze to prepare. I stirred in some bourbon, brown sugar, fresh ginger and garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil. The mixture should be thick, but pourable and spreadable.
As with all sauces like this, I’d recommend tasting it and adjusting to your liking. You could make it a little sweeter if you like a sweeter ham or thin it out more if you want a thinner coat on the ham. This was my finished glaze texture.
Substitution idea: If you don’t have bourbon or don’t want to use bourbon, you just need something to thin out the paste so you could use chicken stock or even water and be okay.
Tips for making a great ham
Ham is an easy main course to make, all things considered. Most are pre-smoked and you could eat it right out of the package, but most are better if you bake them and add some flavor to them.
- When you are baking a ham, cover it with foil to start the baking so it doesn’t dry out. I like to bake the ham, covered, for at least an hour, and then uncover it near the end so the glaze can cook onto the ham.
- Bake the ham at 350˚F for most of the baking time, but it’s okay to turn up the heat to 400 or 425˚F to add some color the ham and glaze near the end of cooking.
- Glaze more than once. I like to remove my ham three times while it is baking and add a thin layer of glaze to the ham each time. This will allow the glaze to get in all the slices and ensure that the glaze really sticks to the ham.
What to serve with this ham
Ham can be the star of the show for sure, but it needs some side dish help. I always like a potato to serve with ham. Something like these Au Gratin potatoes, these crispy rosemary potatoes, or even a really good mashed potato would be great with this ham.
If you wanted a different kind of vegetable, I think these sesame broccoli steaks would be a nice side dish or you could go with a hearty salad like this sweet potato salad.
Storage tips for gochujang ham
Ham is a very easy thing to store, which is good because a ham can weight 6-8 pounds and you will almost certainly have leftovers.
For starters, you can always freeze ham. Add it to a freezer bag and try to get out as much air as possible and the ham will freeze well for up to six months.
If you plan to use it within a week or so, you can store the ham in the fridge without an issue. It’ll keep just fine and you can add it to all kinds of dishes from omelets to fried rice. Here are some ham recipe ideas if you need some!
Bourbon Gochujang Ham
Ingredients
- 1 whole ham, 6-8 pounds, pre-sliced
Gochujang Glaze
- ½ cup gochujang chili paste
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch fresh ginger, minced or grated
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- For the glaze, mix together ingredients in a medium bowl. I like to set aside about 1/3 cup of the glaze to serve alongside the ham later.
- Place the ham on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake at 300˚F for about an hour or 10 minutes per pound to warm the ham thoroughly.
- Remove ham and foil from ham. Add a layer of glaze to the ham and turn heat up to 400˚F. Return ham to oven to bake for another 15 minutes.
- Repeat with glaze two more times, getting the glaze in all the slices. Add thin layers of glaze each time.
- Remove the ham from the oven and let cool slightly before serving with extra glaze on the side. Serve with traditional sides like potatoes, brussel sprouts, and/or corn bread.
