If you grew up in a Latino household, chances are it's not the night before Christmas that gets you excited, it's the night before Christmas Eve. The reason? Tamales! For many Latinos, Christmas Eve is known as Noche Buena'and is a big family day. I remember Christmas Eve at my grandmother’s house, tamales on the table, and Christmas presents at midnight. My parents can remember back-in-the-day (pre-kids)going to Midnight Mass, then attending the Christmas dance, and afterward heading back home early Christmas morning and eating a breakfast full of tamales.
Tamales are as regional as road maps.
Tamales may be sweet or savory, wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves. Sweet tamales are filled with fruit. Savory tamales are filled with pork, chicken, turkey, fish, cheese, or any combination of the above. At my grandmother’s house, we had savory somewhat spicy pork tamales wrapped in corn husks. For years I’ve tried to copy her recipe. My grandmother does not make her tamales from any written recipe. She, like most experienced cooks, goes by the touch, feel, and taste as she prepares her culinary masterpiece.
The following is a close version of my grandmother’s recipe for pork tamales. It is time-consuming but well worth it!
Put the ancho pods in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes or more until soft, then remove the stems and seeds and coarsely chop. Reserve the soaking liquid.
Let cool and carefully transfer the mixture to a food processor and process adding reserved soaking liquid as needed until smooth. Pour blended mixture through a fine mesh sieve and transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Prepare the Husks
Fill a stock pot with warm water and corn husks and soak overnight. Just before you’re ready to make your tamales, rinse husks and dry well and, if too wide, cut in half. Set aside.
Prepare the Pork
Cut pork shoulder into small (1-2 inch) pieces. Add garlic, pork pieces and spices to a large stock pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook over low heat for about 3 hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat and shred. Let meat cool and refrigerate overnight. Reserve pork broth.
The day of
Prepare the Masa
Beat 1 lb. lard with mixer or by hand until light. Add salt and fresh corn masa. Add in the chili mixture little by little until a dark pinkish color, and to taste. Beat with heavy duty mixer or knead like bread with a little pork broth, until dough is light. The dough is ready when a small amount floats when dropped in a glass of water.
Prepare the Pork Filling
Heat some lard in a heavy saucepan. Add a cup (or more, to your taste) of the blended ancho chili mixture to lard and simmer until sauce slightly thickens. Add some salt to taste. Now add shredded meat and both and cook for about 20 minutes. You may want to add more of the blended chili mixture to your liking.
Fill the Corn Husks
Put some of the masa in the center of the corn husk. With the back of spoon, spread the bottom 2/3 of corn husk evenly to edges. Line plenty of pork meat down center. Fold side of corn husks toward center, overlap. Now fold top (without masa) down and set aside on platter until ready to cook. Continue these steps until all masa and pork filling is used up.
Steam Tamales
Bring 3-4 cups of reserved pork broth to boil in a steamer. Place tamales with folded side down in steamer standing upright. Cover tamales with moist corn husks and a clean moist dish towel. Put lid on steamer and steam for 1 ½ hours or until husk can be easily peeled from the dough. Add more broth as needed to continue steaming being careful not to pour broth on tamales.
Water or broth moistens the masa harina and helps create the right dough texture. Salt is a natural flavor enhancer and boosts the corn flavor of the tamale dough. Baking powder is used in some tamale dough as a leavening agent, which helps the dough rise a bit when baking and gives it a light texture.
How long do you soak corn husks when making tamales? Corn husks can't be used right out of the bag. They need to be soaked in hot water for at least 1 hour prior to tamale making so they don't crack when you fold them.
To use dried corn husks, they need to be soaked for about 10 minutes in warm water to make them pliable, thus preventing tears or breaks and making them more flexible for folding around the masa. I usually start soaking them as I begin to make my tamales, and they are ready by the time I am ready to form my tamales.
It's really up to you; some people don't use any lard and still manage to make good tamales, but I never ask "should I," but rather "can I" when it comes to adding lard to a dish. Tamales are no exception. Use as much as you want, but at a certain point too much lard will start to make the masa dense and gooey.
Lard will add flavor and texture to your tamales, so before you start doing anything else, make sure to beat the lard thoroughly. Then, add the dough and the water alternating. That is the secret to fluffy tamales!
The masa and lard will make the base of the tamale dough, in a ratio of 5 pounds masa to 1 pound lard. The beef will make the filling, and should weigh 5 pounds before it gets cooked to every 5 pounds masa.
Take tamales out of the bag and leave them wrapped in the husk. Place in steaming device with space around the tamale. If frozen, steam for 30 minutes. If thawed out, steam for 15 minutes.
Place your order for prepared masa at least 24 hours in advance. Corn husks are also available for $4 a package. You will need two bags of husks for 10 pounds of masa, which should yield about 60 tamales.
Use as much as you want, but at a certain point too much lard will start to make the masa dense and gooey. Make sure you are using a good stand mixer to whip the lard into the masa. Whipping air into it and getting good even distribution of the fat are just as important to the lightness of the final product.
For my tamaladas, where I have three friends helping, I buy 10 pounds and usually get about 60 to 70 tamales, so everyone gets at least 15 to take home with them. Make sure to ask for PREPARED masa when ordering because they also sell the unprepared version.
Alton Brown recommends steaming them right in a normal tall pot with a steamer insert (your typical expanding/contracting one many people have on hand), directly in their husks. Basically, you put a couple inches of water in, and then a steamer insert, and the tamales (in the husks) go on top of the steamer.
While steaming is the traditional method for cooking tamales, baking them can be a viable alternative. To bake tamales, simply arrange them on a greased baking dish, cover them with foil, and bake at a moderate temperature until they are heated through and the masa dough is cooked.
Introduction: My name is Horacio Brakus JD, I am a lively, splendid, jolly, vivacious, vast, cheerful, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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