Homemade Pork Tamales

For me, there are a few things that have been on my culinary bucket list for a while now and I have a deep desire to learn to cook them.  Tamales is one of those things.  This week I found myself with a day off for Veteran's day and since the kids were in school it was the perfect time to give these a try.  After watching several videos (Alton Brown's "Tamales Never Die" for one) and searching high and low for a recipe, I was ready to go.  The recipe I found (Traditional Tamales) made a rather large batch  so I decided to scale it down to fit my needs.  This variation made 32 tamales for me but your numbers may vary depending on how thick you spread the dough on the husks and how much filling you add to each tamale.  To me it was the perfect amount to have some to eat and some to freeze but not too many.  I will definitely make these again and experiment with different filling recipes.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
2 lbs pork shoulder or pork butt, trimmed and cut into 1" cubes
6 cups water
½ medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsps. salt
2 cups red chili sauce (see recipe below)
⅓ cup lard or shortening
3 cups masa harina
¾ tsp baking powder
6 oz bag dried corn husks (You won't use the entire bag)
Kitchen Twine (optional)

Directions
In a 5 qt Dutch oven, bring pork, water, onion, garlic and 1 tsp salt to boil. Simmer covered, about 2 hours or until meat is very tender.

While you wait, make Red Sauce (see recipe below). Soak approx. 40 corn husks in warm water for at least 45 minutes; rinse to remove any corn silk and drain well.

When meat is done, remove meat from broth and allow both meat and broth to cool. Shred the meat using 2 forks, discarding fat. Strain the pork broth and reserve 3 cups.  In a large sauce pan, heat the red chili sauce and add meat; simmer, covered for 10 minutes.

To make dough, beat lard/shortening on medium speed in a large bowl for 1 minute.  In a separate bowl, stir together masa harina, baking powder and 1 teaspoons salt.  Alternately add masa harina mixture and reserved pork broth to shortening, beating well after each addition. (Add just enough broth to make a thick, creamy paste).

To assemble each tamale, spread 2 Tbsps. of the masa mixture on the center of the corn husk.  Place about 1 Tbsp. meat mixture in the middle of the masa. 

Fold in sides of husk and fold up the bottom.   Note: I used Alton Brown's suggestion to bundle the tamales in groups of three and tie with kitchen twine.

Place a mound of extra husks or a foil ball in the center of a steamer basket placed in a large steamer pot.  Lean the tamale bundles in the basket, open side up.  Add water to steamer pot just below the basket.  Bring water to boil and reduce heat to low.  Cover and steam until the dough is firm and pulls away easily from the husk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.




Red Sauce

Ingredients
6 large dried chilies ( such as Ancho for mild or Anaheim for hotter sauce)
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt

Directions
Remove stems and seeds from dried chili peppers.  Place peppers in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast in 350°F oven for 2 to 5 minutes or until you smell a sweet roasted aroma, checking often to avoid burning. Remove from oven and soak in enough hot water to cover for about 30 minutes or until cool. Put peppers and 1 1/4 cups of the soaking water into a blender (save the remaining soaking water).  Add garlic, cumin and salt. Cover and blend until smooth.  If sauce appears too thick to blend add a little more soaking water.