Baked Christmas ham with soy, ginger, orange and Szechuan pepper glaze

Ingredients

•  1 x 3-4kg ham bone-in, pre-cooked

•  125ml hoisin sauce
•  3 tbsp light brown soft sugar
•  3 tbsp soy sauce
•  2 tbsp Szechuan pepper
•  2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
•  1 tbsp sesame oil
•  2 oranges, finely tested and 1 of the oranges juiced
•  whole star anise, for decoration
•  fresh coriander leaves, to garnish

Method 

Preheat the oven to 180°c.

Use a small sharp knife to cut the rind around the shank of the ham.  Carefully lift the rind from the fat: use your fingers to go between the rind and fat to help seperate them.  Score the white fat in a diamond pattern.

Dry roast the Szechuan pepper and grind using a mortar and pestle until it's a fine powder.  Add ground Szechuan pepper to a small bowl and combine with the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, sesame oil and orange zest and stir until the sugar has dissolved.  Put the ham on a rack over a roasting tin and pour a small amount of water into the tin to prevent the glaze catching on the bottom.

Brush half the glaze over the ham, making sure that all the white fat is generously covered.

Bake the ham for 30 to 40 minutes until golden.  While cooking, baste the ham frequently with the rest of the glaze.  Remove the ham from the oven, put on a platter and pour over the orange juice.  Decorate with whole star anise and garnish with lots of fresh coriander.