In the 25 years my husband and I have been married, I cannot recall a single Christmas or Thanksgiving without tamales. Though not “native” to New Mexico, tamales have been adopted by the state and are very popular. Numerous adaptations have been made on the basic tamale, including vegetarian tamales, chicken tamales, and even chocolate tamales. 

For the moment, I only want to go over the basic tamale recipe which uses either pork or beef.  Pork is probably the more traditional, but this recipe can use any sort of meat “stuffing” which has been marinated and cooked in a red chile sauce.

Most people are intimidated by making tamales, but there is no need to be. My step by step process will insure that you make wonderful tamales!

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Tamales - Making Homemade Tamales

For the sake of time, and most likely sanity, I am listing more modern ingredients. I have never actually used a metate to grind down corn for masa, but I can imagine that this would have been a time consuming and difficult job. In the distant past, metates and molcajete were common place in the preparation of tamales, as well as many other dishes.  I have used my molcajete, but more often I will use a food processor or blender, and am glad that I have these! Thankfully we now also have a corn masa for preparing tamales that can be found in almost all grocery stores. 

 

Carnitas:
The recipe for Carne Adovada may also be used in place of this Carnitas Recipe.

4 to 5 pounds boneless pork shoulder, fat trimmed and meat cut into 1-inch cubes
2 teaspoons salt
2 onions, coarsely chopped
8 garlic cloves
1 dozen whole peppercorns
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

IMPORTANT: Make sure that you have all the ingredients and equipment needed for the recipe before you start preparing.

In a large pot over medium heat, combine pork cubes and just enough water to cover the pork. Add salt, onions, garlic, peppercorns, cumin seeds, and oregano; bring to a boil. To keep the peppercorns and cumin seeds separate, place them in cheese cloth and tie before adding to the meat pot (or you can do like me and use a tea ball - these work great).

As the meat comes to a boil, a foam will rise to the surface; skim this foam off, then reduce heat to low, and let mixture simmer. You will need to simmer the meat for approximately 1 1/2 hours, adding water as needed to keep the pot from going dry. Do not allow this to boil during this time, simmer only. When done, remove from heat.

Allow the pork to cool in it’s own broth. Once cooled, removed the pork from the broth; reserving the broth for later use in making the Masa Dough. Shred the pork by using two forks to pull the meat apart, or you can use a food processor fitted with the plastic “dough” blade to shred.

Thoroughly mix the cinnamon, black pepper and paprika thoroughly into the meat. Refrigerate the cooked pork and the pork broth, covered, until ready to make the tamales.

Corn Husk Wrappers:

1 (16-ounce) bag of dried corn husk (hojas)*

* These can be found in the ethnic food aisle of most grocers. 

Fill a large pot, or your sink, with hot water and put the husks to soak. There are some people who use foil or other wrapping materials, but I cannot see making tamales and not using the original ingredients. The corn husks allow the steam to penetrate just right, so the tamales are well cooked.

 

Tamale (Masa) Dough:

4 pound bag of prepared Masa/Maseca Corn Flour*
3 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons garlic powder
2 cups corn oil
2 quarts pork or chicken broth (use your reserved pork broth)**

* Do not confuse masa flour with cornmeal, as they are made from different types of corn and you will not achieve the same results in your tamales if you use cornmeal. Masa mix can be purchased in Latin American markets or supermarkets that carry Latin American products. It can also be purchased by mail order if not available locally.

** Skim the fat off of the chilled pork broth before using.


In a large bowl (and I mean a very large bowl), place 1/2 the bag (approximately 2 pounds) of maseca corn flour. To this add the paprika, salt, chili powder, and garlic powder. Using clean hands, work the dry ingredients together, mixing well so that you don’t end up with clumps of spices (this wouldn’t taste too good, and the rest of the masa would not be seasoned well).

Once you have the masa flour and the other dry ingredients well combined, add the corn oil all at once. Continue to work this with your hands, mixing the corn oil into the dry ingredients. Once this is distributed well, begin adding the warm pork or chicken broth, 1 cup at a time. Keep mixing, and adding broth, until your masa is the consistency of paste or peanut butter. You will probably be using both hands before you get to this point. NOTE: You may need to add more masa mix, or more liquid as you are mixing so you obtain the right consistency. 
 

Assembling the Tamales:

Carefully separate the soaked corn husks, and place them on a towel on the countertop. Arrange your ingredients in the order you will be assembling them (at least that is how I have found is easiest).

• Corn husks first
• Bowl of masa
• Shredded meat
• Steamer pot to cook them in.
   

(1)  Take 1 (or 2 if the corn husks are very narrow) corn husks and place them in your hand (pinched-looking end toward your fingers and smooth side of a corn husk up).	(2)  Slightly overlap the corn husks. If a corn husk rips or one is too small, overlap two together and continue wrapping and tying as usual.	(3)  Using a butter knife or with your other hand, take enough of the masa to spread over the corn husks covering the top 2/3 and 2/3 of one side. You want the masa to be about 1/4-inch. thick.  If you spread it too thick, it will be difficult to roll up with the meat added and it will squeeze out onto your hand or counter. If you make it too thin, you will have the meat falling out in the steamer. NOTE: The photo shows an idea that I came up with after watching the little kids use their hands to flatten out the masa (The kids tamales were looking better than the adults!)  So I took a hoja and used it to press down the masa under it.  It makes it easy to get an even layer that is just the right thickness.
(4)  Add about 1 tablespoon of the shredded meat, spreading it evenly down the center of the masa (careful to leave 1/2-inch at the top and bottom, and room on the sides for the masa to close around the meat).  After you have put together a few, you will be able to better gauge the amount to add and still be able to roll up your tamale.	(5)  Carefully roll the tamale, starting with the side covered in masa. Turn right side over to center of filling; fold left side over filling, allowing plain part of husk to wrap around filling.  Fold top end down over bottom end.	(6)  Roll it snug, but not too tight. Too tight and you might end up with a hand full of masa and this really cannot be used to make a new one. You may want to make your tamales “conveyor” style, or make several husks with masa, then proceed to the next step. Because of the amount of work put into making tamales, a great time to make them is when friends and family are present. Conveyor style allows you to get them into the pot faster, which means everyone gets to eat faster!

Steaming the Tamales: