Red pork tamales are a time-consuming process, but overall, not a difficult one.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: masa, red pork, tamales
Ingredients
Masa Dough Ingredients
8ouncescorn husks
2cupslard or shorteningI used lard
6cupsmasa harina cornflour
2teaspoonssalt
1tablespoonbaking powder
1teaspoononion powder
1teaspoongarlic powder
5cupschicken broth
Red Pork Ingredients
4poundspork butt or roastcooked and shredded
16ouncesdried New Mexico chile pods
6clovesgarlic
2teaspoonscumin
1/4cupflour
1beef bouillon cube
salt to taste
Instructions
Start by placing your corn husks in a large pot of warm water, weighing them down if necessary. Let them soak for at least 30 minutes before starting assembly.
For the dough, begin by beating the lard with a mixer until it's light—about two to three minutes. Add in the rest of the dough ingredients and let the mixer run until everything is well combined. You'll probably have to do that for around seven to 10 minutes. You'll know the masa is ready when a pea-sized piece floats in a cup of water. If it doesn't float, keep mixing.
Once the masa dough is done, cover it and refrigerate it until you're ready to assemble.
For the sauce, remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles (don't worry if you don't get every last seed. Just do your best.), and rinse them.
Place them in a large stockpot and add just enough water to cover them.
Bring the pot to a boil, then cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let them simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the pods but do not pour out the water they cooked in. Add the bouillon cube to the pot, turn the heat back up to medium, and stir until it dissolves.
In a blender, adding each ingredient a little at a time and blending in between, add the pods, garlic, cumin and flour, along with one cup of the water from the pot.
Pour the sauce through a fine sieve to get rid of any solid bits and pour the sauce into a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk the sauce and let it cook for about five minutes. It's done when it coats the back of a spoon. If it's too thick, add more of the water from the pot. If it's too thin, keep cooking to reduce it further.
Add in the shredded pork and stir to combine well. You don't want a soupy mixture here—just a nice coating on the pork.
Remove the pork from the heat and get ready to make tamales. Lay a cornhusk in front of you with the smaller, pointier end on top. Using a two-inch cookie scoop, put about one-quarter cup of masa dough on the wider end and spread it out across the width of the husk and about two to three inches up vertically. The dough will be sticky, and wet fingers really help here.
Now place about two tablespoons of pork in the middle of the dough and roll the husk into about a two-inch-wide tube, rolling from the long side. Fold the pointed end up and tie the tamale shut with some baker's twine. Set the tamale aside and repeat until all the filling is used.
To cook the tamales, use a large pot of water with a steamer basket or strainer pot, or use a pressure cooker with a steamer basket. In either case, add about two cups of water to the bottom and pack in as many tamales as you can, standing upright with the open end facing up. In the pot, cook over medium heat for 30 to 40 minutes or until the masa easily pulls away from the husks. In the pressure cooker, cook on high pressure for 20 minutes with a quick release.
Serve immediately, and store any leftovers in the fridge or freezer for later.