Best 5 Mexican Tamales Recipes

MEXICAN RED PORK TAMALES AS MADE BY EDNA PEREDIA RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Place the dry corn husks in a baking dish. Pour hot water over the husks to cover. Weigh the husks down so they are completely submerged and let soak for 2 hours, or until pliable.
• Add the tomatoes, onion, guajillos, pasillas, garlic, and 4 cups (960 ml) of water to a small pot. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened.
• Transfer the vegetables to a blender, Add salt and pepper to taste, the cumin, and about ½ cup (60 ml) of the cooking liquid. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
• Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and season with salt and pepper. Fry the pork until well-browned and most of the fat has evaporated. Drain any excess fat, if necessary.
• Add the sauce to the pan with the pork, bring to a boil, cover, and let simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• In a small bowl, combine the baking soda, baking powder, and 1 tablespoon water. Stir to dissolve, then set aside.
• Add the lard to a large bowl. With an electric hand mixer, whip the lard until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
• Add the masa and baking soda mixture and mix with your hands until smooth, about 5 minutes. It should be spreadable but still hold its shape.
• Drain the soaked corn husks.
• Place 1 husk on a clean surface and add 1-2 tablespoons of masa to the center of the husk. Spread with the back of the spoon to about ¼ inch (¾ cm) from the edges.
• Place 1 tablespoon of meat in the center. Roll the corn husk over the filling from left to right and fold the top down to create a little pocket. Set aside. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
• Place the tamales, open ends up, in a steamer basket set over a large pot of boiling water. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and the lid. Let steam for 1 hour, then turn off the heat and let the tamales rest for 1 hour more.
• Unwrap the tamales and serve with salsa verde.
• Enjoy!

BEST AUTHENTIC MEXICAN TAMALES EVER!

Steps:

• Cook and Shred Pork Roast:.
• Start with 1 pork roast. Cut the roast into fist size chunks. Put the chunks into a Pan, and cover with water. Boil for about 2 1/2 hours or until it becomes really tender. After the meat is really tender, take it out of the broth to cool (Save the Broth, you will need it for the Masa!).
• After the roast chunks are cool enough to handle easily, shred them with your fingers. Try to remove and discard the fat as you go. There is no need to throw a lot of fat into the tamales. If you have cooked the roast chunks thoroughly, it will be easy to shred into small pieces with your fingers.
• Cook and Shred Chicken:.
• Cover the chicken with water in a large pot, and boil for 2 hours, or until the chicken is done and tender. Take the chicken out of the broth and allow the chicken to cool. (Save the Chicken Broth as well!) Remove and discard the skin. Take the chicken meat off the bones and shred the it into very small filaments. Discard any large chunks of fat.
• Combine Pork and Chicken:.
• Combine both meats in very large pan, and mix together. Make sure that the meats are thoroughly combined and mixed well. You are now ready to add the seasoning:.
• Add the Spices and Seasonings:.
• Mix the oil and seasonings listed below in a small pan and warm on the stove. Do not cook the oil and seasonings mix, but just gently warm on the stove.
• Meat Spices and Seasonings:.
• 1/2 c corn oil.
• 6 Tablespoon Gibhartds chili powder (Other Chile Powders will work).
• 3 Tablespoon garlic powder.
• 3 Tablespoon ground cumin (comino).
• 1 Tablespoon (or less) black pepper.
• 2 Tablespoon salt.
• When the oil and seasonings mix is warm, then pour over the meat and mix with your hands until it is completely distributed through the meat. It takes a good 10 minutes to get the mixture completely uniform.
• The meat is now finished. You should put the meat in the refrigerator covered until ready to make the tamales. Put both the chicken broth and roast broth into the refrigerator as well. You will need the broth when you make the Masa.
• Prepare the Corn Husks:.
• Soak the husks in a sink full of warm water for about 2 hours. You will need to carefully separate them when they get soft. Try to not tear or damage the corn shucks. It is easier to make the tamales if the shucks are in one piece.
• Make The Masa Dough Mix:.
• Start with 4 lbs. of the Masa flour. Now, skim the fat off the broth that you saved from the Pork and Chicken you made earlier. Throw the fat away, and save the broth. Warm the broth from the pork and chicken up. Don't get it hot, just nice and warm.
• Now put the 4 lbs. of Masa in a large bowl. Add the following dry spices to the Masa:.
• 3 Tablespoons paprika.
• 3 Tablespoons salt.
• 1 Tablespoon cumin seeds.
• 3 Tablespoons Gibhardts Chili Powder.
• 3 Tablespoons garlic powder.
• Mix the spices above with your hands into the Masa until it is completely incorporated. Mix well, as you don't want a clump of spices in a tamale.
• Now add:.
• 4 cups of Corn Oil to the Masa and Spice mixture. After adding the oil, begin to slowly work in 4 quarts of the warm chicken/pork broth, about a cup at a time. Work the mixture with your hands to make dough. Slowly add the warm broth one cup at a time as you continue to work the mixture with your hands. If it is too dry, add enough warm water to get it right for spreading. It should be about like thick peanut butter. If it is too thin add more Masa, if it is too thick, add more broth or warm water. Thick peanut butter is the consistency you are trying for.
• Build the Tamales:.
• After the corn shucks are soft, take some of them out of the water, shake the water off, lay them on the counter on a towel.
• Pick up a shuck, lay it across the palm of your hand with the small end toward your fingers. scoop up about 1/2 c of the Masa dough with a spatula, and then smear it on the shuck.
• Cover about left 2/3 of the shuck with Masa, leave 1/3 on the right uncovered. Similarly, cover the bottom 2/3 of the shuck, and leave the top 1/3 uncovered.
• Take about 1 tablespoon of meat, and lay it on the masa about 1 inches from the left edge.
• Starting on the left side (the side where the Masa dough goes all the way to the edge), roll the tamale all the way to the right edge. Now, fold the top of the shuck over like an envelope and lay tamale on the counter with the fold on the under side.
• Repeat until all the masa dough mix and meat mix are gone.
• You should have about 4 dozen or more tamales.
• Cooking The Tamales:.
• To cook the tamales, You need a very large pot that has something in the bottom to keep the tamales out of the water while they steam. Add about 3 pints of water to the pot, then start stacking the tamales upright until full. The envelope end of the tamale will be on the bottom, the open end of the tamale should be on top, as pictured at left. Continue to fill the pot. The tamales need to pack tight enough that they do not fall over and begin to unfold. Cover the pot, and bring the water to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low and cook for at least 2 hours. Check water several times and add more if it is getting low, you DON'T want to boil it dry. Add more water as you need to. When done, take one tamale out and leave it on the counter for about 5 minutes to test. Unwrap it and it should be firm, with no raw masa. When done, remove all the tamales and let them cool on the counter, then put in bags for the freezer, 6 to a bag. If you have one of those Vacuum sealers, those are ideal. You can save the tamales in the freezer indefinitely if they are vacuum sealed. If you use zip lock bags, they will stay for up to a year in the freezer.

MEXICAN TAMALES,TAMALES MEXICANOS DE PUERCO

Steps:

• 1. Day one cook pork shoulder in a deep pot cover with the water add the quartered onion, garlic, bay leaves, salt and cumin. For added flavor add a tsp of granulated garlic powder to the water bring to a boil skim the scum off the top reduce heat and simmer about 4 or 5 hours. Meat must be falling off the bone tender. Remove from heat and let cool. If you like refrigerate and the next day shredd meat with two forks. Do not remove the congeled fat from the cold broth. You will need this extra fat to make your tamale masa tender.
• 2. Same day Make Red Chile sauce or red tamale sauce to flavor the pork meat. Remove stems and all the seeds from the ancho chiles. In a very large tray like a cookie sheet grease with a little oil and put the dried chiles on it put into a preheated hot oven moderate heat for a few minutes such as 2 1/2 minutes then open oven and turn chiles on the other side and roast 2 1/2 minutes more. Be very careful not to scorch the chiles if they scorch they will turn bitter and you will have to start over. They scorch and burn very easy so you must watch them very closely. This roasting step brings out the deep rich chile flavor. Remove from the oven do not leave in more the 5 minutes total time. Put the roasted chiles in a pot and cover with water add a tsp of salt to the water and add the onion and garlic. Bring the chiles to a boil reduce heat and steady simmer for fifteen minutes. After fifteen minutes have passed shut off heat and let cool in their water until they are reasonably able to handle. Next in a blender add half the chiles half the cooked onion, two cooked garlic cloves and process until the chile is throughly blended into a paste. Add half the tablet or disk of Mexican chocolate, half a tablspoon of the peanut butter, half the teaspoon of cumin powder and a little pork broth about a half cup and blend on high until smooth. With a rubber spatula scrape out the chile paste and proceed with the rest of the chiles. remaining onion and garlic, cloves other half chocolate disk or tablet, remaing peanut butter and the other half of cumin powder. Add a little more pork broth about half a cup and process until smooth Do all of your chiles like this you might need more disks of Mexican chocolate and peanut butter to finish all of your chiles. The chocolate and peanut butter round out and smooth the flavor of the ancho chiles.
• 3. Start with one cup of your red chile sauce and add it to you shredded meat mixture you should make sure your meat is warm you can heat it up a little in the micro wave. It will be easier to mix if the meat is warm rather then cold from the refrigerator. Mix your cup of chile paste with the meat and continue to add more chile paste until your meat is moist and saucy but"Not soupy" if your sauce is a little dry add a little more pork broth to it. then mix well and incorporate into your meat. You're meat should look like a saucy pulled pork consistency. Taste to see if it has enough salt and pepper. If You have red chile sauce left over put in small freezer bags, freeze and save for making enchilada sauce or mole. You're meat is now ready to fill the tamales. Set aside.
• 4. The Masa, Using a large roaster deep pan now take your 4.4 pound bag of Maseca or 5 lbs of ground masa if you are lucky enough to find it. Add your Maseca to or ground masa to the deep pan add the melted pork lard shoud be cool enough to handle and add the pork broth by the cupfull make sure it is very warm it should not be hot. You should be able to handle the mixing with your hands. (Note: for this recipe pork lard is what gives these tamales the rich delicious flavor. No amount of crisco or other fat will acomplish the incredible flavor the pork lard gives Mexican Tamales. With that I leave you to make your decision as to what fat to use.) I like to melt my pork fat in the microwave let it cool. Add your salt and baking powder with the pork broth Mix again I do this by hand It can be very tiresome so I get one or two of my strong grandsons to mix the masa for me as I add the broth lard salt and baking powder. If using the Maseca add cupfuls of broth one at a time until you have a nice spreadable consistency. Taste the masa to make sure it has enough salt. Your masa should have the consisteny of a thick soft creamy oat meal or better yet like a think creamy polenta. Set Masa aside and prepair the corn husks
• 5. The Corn husks. Remove corn husks one by and clean and remove any dried corn silk. Again in a very large deep pan I use another roaster I fill with hot water and put all the cleaned and seperated husks to soak. Soaking takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove a large handful and wring the water out by squeezing the husks. Lay in a tray and with a clean dish towel blot the exces water from them. Keep them covered so they do not dry out. Now you are ready for spreading the masa on the husk. Take a butter knife dip in the masa and get a nice amount and spread on the husk over the entire bottom half leaving the top triangle part of the husk bare. Spread like if you would be spreading peanut butter on bread. About a little less then 1/4 inch thick on your husk do not spread all the way to the ends of the husk leave bare a little on each side. Now take a good size tablespoon of meat mixture and lay down the center of the prepared masa husk. Fold one edge of the husk over the other to form a slender tamale. The overlaping masa will help to keep the tamale together. Next fold the top half over the tamale itselt and lay seam down do all of your tamales like this until you have enough to put and stack in a steamer pot to cook.
• 6. Cooking your tamales. If you have a tamale steamer pot you add boing water to the bottom half and stack the tamales standing up in a cicular layers with the open side up. Then on top of those another circular row always standing up the open side facing up. Pour the hot water down the side when adding more water. The tamles should never be emersed in water they cook by steaming. Cover the layers with loose tamles husks and a clean dish towel over everything and then cover. Enough water should be at them bottom to steam the tamlaes for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Some people steam only one hour but when I make tamales I have so many in the pot that I steam for one hour and a half to ensure complete cooking. Be sure you are always nearby so the water does not run out. If the water goes down add more boiling water down the side of the pot. After the time has elapsed shut off and uncover the pot let cool. You can remove with tongs as the tamales will be extreemly hot. When they have cooled you can bag and freeze Some tmes I bag 12 to or 6 to a bag. I always save some to eat the next day you can refrigerate. Always leave your tamales in the husk when freezing remove the husk only to eat. You can eat in the microwave only needs a minute or so to reheat. If you have no tamale steamer you can use a large regular steamer pot such as a crab pot or large lobster pot. Put a large bowl in the middle and some sort of preforated pie pan on top. My grandmother had two large aluminum pie tins that she had my grandfather put holes in all around. She put the pie tin over the bowl so the tamlaes would be above the water. She then would stack her tamales standing up inclining a little towards the center in a cicular position. She would put a large mug in the middle of the pie pan so the tamales could rest aganist it and work around stacking the tamales. I know this recipe will not be made by everyone but for those who have asked good luck and Enjoy.

MEXICAN TAMALES

Steps:

• Place all filling ingredients into a crock pot and cook on low 8 to 10 hours. (I usually do this procedure overnight).
• When meat is done, remove meat from sauce and shred in bowl this give you the opportunity to remove the fat out of the meat.
• Run sauce through sieve to remove skins of chiles, garlic and etc. Your sauce should be thick and a beautiful deep red color! Reserve 1 cup of meat sauce for the tamale dough.
• While meat mixture is cooling, place husks in warm water to soften.
• Mix all the ingredients of tamale dough plus 1 cup reserved meat sauce together (I do this in my kitchen aid -- makes the job much easier!).
• Take approx 3 tbsp of dough and place in the middle of corn husk. Spread thinly place filling in the middle with an olive and wrap until dough meets, the Woman who taught me how to make these -- says an olive in the middle brings good luck!
• Fold ends and roll package so that corn husk has covered all of filling.
• Place in steamer. Steam for 40 minutes.
• Spoon sauce over tamales on plate.
• These freeze very well. I freeze after they are steamed so the prep of dinner is quick, I do know those who freeze before they are steamed and it seems to work as well.

MEXICAN TAMALES

Steps:

• 1. Preparing the Chilis (wear rubber gloves and do not touch your face) Cut the end of the chilis and slice them down the side removing all the seeds. Do that until you have done the entire bag of chilis. Throw away the seeds. After completing this you have to boil the chilis until they are soft enough to tear with your fingers. When they have reached this consistency you can place them in a blender with all the seasonings ,2 of the tbsp of salt and a cup of water, blend until the consistency of gravy. Mix this in the deboned chicken, now the meat is done. Preparing the Masa: Take entire package of dry masa flour, mix in the salt and baking powder, 2 tbsp of salt, adding the 2lbs of lard and can of chicken stock/chicken water until it is smooth and creamy. The old fashioned way is to use your hands to mix it but if you have a kitchen aid mixer, that works the best, regular mixer is ok but this gets really thick. Now the Masa is ready! Constructing Tamales: The first thing you want to do is separate all the corn husks after they are soft and place the spread, about 2 serving spoons of masa in the middle of corn husk leaving 3 inches on top and bottom. Take 1 large tablespoon of meat mixture in the middle and make a tri-fold of the corn husk bending the bottom end up. Keep going until all the masa/meat/corn husks are gone or you have the amount of tamales you want. Cooking the Tamales: Take all your tamales place them standing up in a colander or large steamer in a tall stock pot with a upside down bowl in the stock pot to keep tamales out of the water and steam for 90 minutes (you start counting 90 minutes when you first put it on the stove) Not when it starts boiling. Cook for entire 90 minutes, when they come out they will be soft and will harden as they start to cool. Eat and enjoy!