Ingredient Name: Ham Bone
Traditional Chinese Name: 豬骨 (zhū gǔ)
What is this?
- This is the left-over bones from a cooked ham. The bones from cooked turkeys and hams (leftovers from Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and other holidays) make great soup bases which are full of flavour.
- It is best to leave a little ham meat on the bones for extra flavour and texture.
How do I prepare it?
- Eat the meat.
- If the bone is too large for your soup pot, you may need to ask a butcher to cut it down to two or three smaller pieces. Otherwise, no additional preparation needed.
- Ham bone also freezes well (wrapped in saran wrap) and can store for months in the back of your freezer before being used in a soup.
Where can I buy this?
- Wherever you bought your ham.
What is the cost?
- Free! This is a great way to use the leftover ham bone from a meal.
Any benefits?
- Pork contains many nutrients (including 6 essential vitamins)
- It is a good source of iron, zinc, Vitamin B6 and protein
- It is said to be a healthier red meat substitute over beef
Any precautions?
- If there is a lot of meat left on the bones, be sure to taste your soup before salting because the meat can be very salty.
Have you ever tried Bacon bones? They are a bit saltier but make great soup.
cheers, Dennis
Bacon bones? I didn’t know bacon had bones! I will definitely look this up and see what it is. But I can see how the salting process makes it tasty in soups. Thank you for the suggestion!! Will have to give it a shot and see if I can find any bacon bones in Hong Kong.
Lisa
Here (Australia) you can get them in supermarkets, especially Winter time for making Pea and Ham soup. Also look for bacon hocks.
cheers, dennis
Can I use just ham meat if I don’t have ham bone on hand?
Dear qtie1009, yes, you can use ham instead of ham bone. The benefits of the bone is the added calcium, but it’s still tasty and healthy. Enjoy! Lisa from TheChineseSoupLady.com Team