Traditional Corn Husk Tamales Food

TRADITIONAL CORN HUSK TAMALES

Steps:

• To prepare chile paste:.
• Break caps off all red chiles and shake seeds out. Soak red chiles in hot water until soft. Blend or process chiles into a paste using a small amount of water in which they were soaked to help it move in the food processor or blender. Put paste through a sieve to remove the skins. Throw skins away. This may be made way ahead of time and refrigerated until you make the tamales.
• To prepare meat:.
• Use the cheapest roasts you can find! Try to cook the meat the day before assembling tamales, keeping it in the refrigerator until tamale-making time. Cut meat into large chunks. Cover meat with water in a very large pot. Add 6 to 12 garlic cloves and 2 or 3 tablespoons salt. Cook meat, covered, for 3 hours or until meat is tender and falling apart. Remove meat from juice and shred. SAVE THE JUICE. Mix meat sauce with the meat.
• To prepare meat sauce:.
• Melt 2/3 cup lard or Crisco and add 2/3 cup flour. Boil for 2 minutes. Pour over shredded meat and mix. Add chili paste, one cup at a time, to taste. Add 1 tablespoon of cumin. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• To mix masa:.
• Place 12 pounds masa (room temperature) in a very large pan and mix with 1 1/4 cups lard or Crisco, 2 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons baking powder, 1 cup chile paste and 2 cups meat broth.
• Mix with hands. Add more meat broth (about 1 cup). Add more chile paste for color if desired. Work all ingredients together with hands for about 10 minutes. The dough is ready when a small lump floats slowly to the bottom of a glass of water.
• To assemble tamales:.
• Soak corn husks in hot water until soft. Using the larger husks, place each husk waxy side up (ribbed side down). Spread masa onto each husk out to the wide edge. Place a small portion of meat in the center of masa. (You may place a stuffed green olive on the meat if you care to.) Roll husks and fold back, wide sides to center, then tapered flap up.
• Set a wire rack or vegetable steamer in the bottom of a large kettle. Put water in kettle just up to the bottom of the rack or steamer. Set tamales in kettle standing on end. Pack them in, allowing room for expansion of masa as they cook. Steam for about 20 to 40 minutes, or until masa pulls away from corn husk easily.

TRADITIONAL TAMALES (PORK)

Steps:

• In a 5 qt Dutch oven, bring pork, water, onion, garlic and 1 1/2 salt to boil.
• Simmer covered, about 2 1/2 hours or until meat is very tender.
• Remove meat from broth and allow both meat and broth to cool. (Chilling the broth will allow you to easily remove the fat if you desire to do so).
• Shred the meat using 2 forks, discarding fat.
• Strain the broth and reserve 6 cups.
• In a large sauce pan, heat the red chili sauce and add meat; simmer, covered for 10 minutes.
• To make masa beat shortening on medium speed in a large bowl for 1 minute.
• In a separate bowl, stir together masa harina, baking powder and 2 teaspoons salt.
• Alternately add masa harina mixture and broth to shortening, beating well after each addition. (Add just enough broth to make a thick, creamy paste).
• In the mean time, soak corn husks in warm water for at least 20 minutes; rinse to remove any corn silk and drain well.
• To assemble each tamale, spread 2 tablespoons of the masa mixture on the center of the corn husk (each husk should be 8 inches long and 6 inches wide at the top. If husks are small, overlap 2 small ones to form one. If it is large, tear a strip from the side).
• Place about 1 tablespoon meat and sauce mixture in the middle of the masa.
• Fold in sides of husk and fold up the bottom.
• Place a mound of extra husks or a foil ball in the center of a steamer basket placed in a Dutch oven.
• Lean the tamales in the basket, open side up.
• Add water to Dutch oven just below the basket.
• Bring water to boil and reduce heat.
• Cover and steam 40 minutes, adding water when necessary.
• To freeze these for future meals, leave them in the husks and place them in freezer bags. To reheat, thaw and wrap in a wet paper towel and reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes for one or two or re-steam them just until hot.

FRESH CORN TAMALES IN THE MAYAN STYLE

Steps:

• Masa harina is a fine corn flour you can find in large grocery or specialty stores.
• You also will need a large pot of boiling water for blanching the husks and a setup for steaming the tamales, such as a bamboo steamer and wok.
• Shuck the corn carefully so as to preserve the husks. To do this, cut off the stem end of the ear close to the base. Carefully peel off the husks from the bottom of the ear, keeping them intact. Trim off any dried or discolored areas from the top of each husk. Blanch the corn ears in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove and drain well. Blanch the husks in same water for 3 minutes. Remove and drain well. Discard the water. Remove kernels from the corn cobs. Discard cobs.
• To make the masa filling, beat the lard in a large bowl until light and fluffy, the same way you would cream shortening when making a cake. This may take as long as 3 minutes. Use an electric mixer on medium speed. Begin adding the masa, about 1/2 cup at a time while beating constantly. Scrape down the sides of the bowl often. If the mixture becomes too stiff, beat in some of the warmed chicken broth, a little at a time. Beat in the salt. The masa is ready when it is very delicate and light and has the consistency of buttercream frosting. Any leftover masa can be frozen.
• To assemble:
• Place a large, blanched husk on work surface, vertically, with the pointed end of the husk facing away from you. Spread the center of the husk with a generous 1 tbs of masa mixture. Add about 2 tsp of blanched corn and about 2 tsp cooked chicken on top of the masa. If you run out of large husks, lay 2 smaller husks side-by-side. Adjust the amount of filling according to the size of the husk. Fold the tamales like this:.
• First, fold the long sides of the husk inward over the filling. If these edges are curling, make sure they are flat when folding. Then, fold the top of the husk over the filling. Finally, fold up the bottom edge of the husk to make a square-ish packet, about 1 3/4 to 2 inches square. If the tamale is difficult to fold, trim off the thick, stem end of the husk. Some cooks tie the tamale closed with long, thin strips of husk or cotton kitchen twine.
• Lay each completed tamale, face up, carefully into the steamer. You can use a two-level steamer with no problem. Steam over vigorously boiling water for about 1 hour, adding additional water to the steamer as needed. Remove from steamer to a serving plate. Cool briefly.
• To eat, unfold the tamale, top with your favorite salsa or condiment, scoop out the filling and enjoy. Red and green salsa for serving, along with guacamole and sour cream are good choices. A good accompanying dish is Mexican red rice. Just search "mexican red rice" on Recipezaar. Discard the corn husk.