Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Photography by Craig T. Kojima; photo composite
by Dean Sensui, Star-Bulletin
The idea of a canned ham takes on new meaning
in context of the Pepsi Ham. For ideas on cooking
with cola, see below.

---

By Betty Shimabukuro
Star-Bulletin

When it comes to food and family, certain dishes can take on mythic proportions. A family specialty can become such a crucial part of any holiday buffet that without it, the meal can barely proceed. Often only one person in the family can really do it right.

In my extended family-by-marriage, this legendary dish is Pepsi Ham.

It tastes great and sounds cool. It's so easy that any clown can pull it off, but only one person (and her daughter) know all the rules. As in a game of telephone, the recipe has been passed on and on, but everyone seems to remember it differently.

Use Diet Pepsi, one person insists. Poke the ham full of holes, another says. Don't baste ... baste a lot ... use a 2-liter bottle ... use a single can ... use Coke if you want ... Coke makes it bitter ...

The woman who brought Pepsi Ham into our family circle is my husband's sister's friend's mother. Her name is Sue Demola and she's from Guam, but now lives on Maui with her son, and sometimes on Oahu with her daughter.

The reason I bring this up now is not to glorify Pepsi or the culinary skills of my family. For many people a holiday ham is part of every Christmas meal, and Pepsi Ham may be the easiest way in the world to guarantee a moist, juicy end product.

No fussing with mustard or brown-sugar rubs, no inserting of cloves. You take a hunk of ham, pour a can or two of Pepsi over it, cover and bake.

Demola can't remember where she got the original recipe, but she is clear on the specifics, her daughter, Linda Cruz, says: Don't poke the ham or you'll lose juices. And do baste.

The other reason I bring this up is that I recently discovered Pepsi Ham to be just the tip of the cola-cooking iceberg. The Internet (and where else are you going to go for this kind of information?) is a motherlode of recipes for everything from appetizers to desserts made with Pepsi or Coca-Cola. You can make brisket, ribs, muffins, cakes, even pickles with cola (7-Up, on the other hand, shows up in just a couple of recipes).

"I think Coca-Cola does so well because of the high sugar content and its own composition, which allows it to lose its moisture in a recipe while leaving its flavor behind," says Frank Fileccia, a chef from Gimli Manitoba, in Canada, who maintains a Web site (http://members.xoom.com/FranksRecipe/index.htm), which includes a dozen Coke ideas among 7,500 free recipes.

Fileccia's been cooking with Coke for years, but guesses that Pepsi would also work. His favorite recipe is for Coca-Cola Carrot Cake with Coca-Cola Icing. "The result of using Coke in the recipe is that you have a cake that is much more moist than any other recipe, and not subject to drying out."

For a scientist's perspective, we turn to Wayne Iwaoka, professor of food science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who says that basically what you get with a soft drink is a whole lot of sugar.

Sugar on the surface of the meat and exposed to roasting creates caramelization, which is a good, tasty thing to happen to a ham.

The carbonation -- from carbonic acid -- is not likely to make much of a difference, Iwaoka says. "Carbonic acid is not acidic enough to do anything to the meat product."

In a baked product, such as Fileccia's carrot cake, the carbonation will add bubbles to the batter, helping to lighten the final product. The carbonic acid, like any acid, will react with baking soda or baking powder in the recipe, "causing an evolution of gas," Iwaoka says.

As for diet drinks, he says they won't give you the same results because the sweetener aspartame breaks down in heat.

The caramel flavoring in cola, by the way, probably contributes some taste and color to the ham, but is too diluted to add much, Iwaoka says.

So, anyway, Coke or Pepsi, or what about Sprite? As an experiment, I cut a 5-pound boneless ham in five pieces and baked each with a half-cup of either Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, Diet Pepsi or -- for good measure -- lilikoi-guava juice. They all turned out moist and sweet, the diet ham slightly less so and the fruit-juice ham tasting a bit fruity. But basically, after sitting awhile, they all tasted the same.

Bottom line: A ham, precooked as it is and full of salt and/or smoke, is very hard to destroy. You could dry it out and that's about all. Pepsi in the pan keeps that from happening, and you get to say you made a Pepsi Ham, which is always good as a conversation-starter.

Here are two ways to make a Pepsi Ham, both of them about as easy as they come:

Baked Pepsi Ham

Sue Demola

1 5-pound pre-cooked ham
1 12-ounce can Pepsi
Place ham in a roasting pan. Pour Pepsi over ham and seal pan with foil.

Bake in 325 oven, basting occasionally, 60 minutes. Remove foil and turn ham. Baste again and bake another 30 minutes.

Note: For a larger ham use 2 cans of Pepsi and bake 15 minutes per pound.

Crock Pot Pepsi Ham

www.recipebox.net

1 3- to 5-pound canned ham cut in half
1 can crushed pineapple
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 12-ounce can Pepsi or Coke

Place all ingredients in a crockpot set on low. Allow to cook for 4-6 hours.

Nutritional information unavailable.

---

By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Pickled vegetables are made with the usual vinegar and
sugar, but also a good amount of Coca-Cola.

Things go better
with Coca-Cola

These recipes are from the Web site http://members.xoom.com/FranksRecipe/index.htm:

Chicken Wings in Coke

4 pounds chicken wings
Garlic and onion salt to taste
10 ounces Coke
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Place chicken in shallow casserole. Sprinkle with garlic and onion salts. Combine Coke, sugar and soy sauce; pour over chicken. Bake at 325 for 3-4 hours or until liquid has evaporated and become sticky. Serves 8.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including salt to taste): 370 calories, 17 g total fat, 5 g saturated fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 23 g protein, 31 g carbohydrate.*

Coca-Cola Roast

1 4-pound beef roast
1 package dry onion soup mix
12 ounces Coca-Cola

Place roast in a baking dish. Sprinkle soup with mix. Pour in Coke. Cover and seal tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 300 degrees until tender, 3-1/2 to 4 hours. Serves 10.

Approximate nutritional information, per 4 ounce serving: 270 calories, 10 g total fat, 3 g saturated fat, 110 mg cholesterol, 300 mg sodium, 37 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate.*

Japanese Pickled Cauliflower with Coke

1 medium cauliflower, separated into flowerets, washed, drained
1 medium green pepper, washed, cored, seeded, in 2-inch strips
Boiling water
1/2 cup celery, very thinly sliced
3/4 cup Coca-Cola
6 tablespoons wine vinegar or white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt

Combine the cauliflower flowerets and bell pepper strips. Cover with boiling water. Let stand 2 minutes, drain thoroughly. Add celery.

In a small pan, heat Coca-Cola, vinegar, sugar and salt. Pour over vegetables. Toss lightly and pack into 1-quart glass jar. Push down lightly so the liquid covers the vegetables. Cover and chill overnight. This keeps in the refrigerator for several days. Makes about 1 quart.

Approximate nutritional information, per 1/4 cup serving: 15 calories, no fat or cholesterol, 280 mg sodium, 1 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate.*

Coca-Cola Carrot Cake

2 cup flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 eggs
1-1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup Coca-Cola
1-1/2 ts vanilla
2-1/4 cup raw carrots, grated
1 cup nuts, chopped
1 cup coconut, flaked
Coca Cola Syrup
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon cocoa
6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
6 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix dry ingredients; set aside. Beat eggs well; add sugar, oil, cola and vanilla and beat well. Stir in dry ingredients until smooth, then add carrots, nuts and coconut.

Bake in a greased and lightly floured 9-by-13-inch pan at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until cake tests done. Remove from oven and prick hot cake all over with a fork, then pour cola syrup evenly over the top. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.

To make syrup: Combine sugar, cocoa, cola, butter and corn syrup in saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring, until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Click for online
calendars and events.