A whole leg of pork salted in winter and hung to cure in the cool mountain air for a year or more, eaten steamed, sliced, or cooked into soups, stir-fries and mooncakes.
What makes it xuanwei ham
A whole pork leg, dry-salted and air-cured — not smoked.
Aged for a year or more in cool upland air.
Deep red, salty and savoury, used sparingly.
Where it comes from
Xuanwei, in the uplands of north-eastern Yunnan, has cured hams for centuries, and its ham is often named with Zhejiang's Jinhua ham among the finest in China. The legs are rubbed with salt in the cold months and hung through the seasons, drying and slowly maturing.
In Yunnan it's a seasoning as much as a meat: a few slices in a soup, a stir-fry or a hotpot, steamed with rubing, or chopped with honey into yúntuǐ yuèbǐng, Kunming's ham mooncakes.
How it varies
Steamed ham
Thick slices steamed until the fat turns clear, eaten with rice.
Yúntuǐ yuèbǐng
Ham mooncakes, a flaky pastry around ham, honey and sugar.