Family traditions – the thing that always makes me wish I was home for the holidays. It is also the thing that I can always be sure will be there. It is the tie to my family, my future family, and my culture. Get your pens/pencils, Command+C, Control+C fingers out for our family recipe for tamales.
The one thing I look forward to most during the holidays is the sheer amount of food that my mother spends oodles of time making from scratch. Bunuelos, pozole, tamales, cookies and cakes, make being on a diet when at home extremely hard.
This year my mom invited my sister and I along for the crazy ride known as making tamales. If you live near the border, you know what they are. Delicious cornmeal with pork and chile wrapped in a cornhusk – a little slice of heaven. The moment that I announced I was in the kitchen with my family we received a barrage of texts, Facebook messages, and emails asking to save them a dozen… or in some cases, 3.
Let me tell you a little about what goes into making these babies. When you don’t have a small army of quick and nimble abuelitas (grandmas) and the right tools, tamales take forever. They have it down to a fine art. $5 for a dozen? In the future I’ll be buying them – but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important to understand how to make them.
Ours were different. Sure, they were made with love and all that BS – but most of all, my sister and I got to be a bit absurd with the amount of meat and yumminess we put in them. All those $5 dozens don’t compare. We were putting 3 tamales into 1 (and in the end calculated our time and effort at something like $15 a dozen).
9 hours after my mom finished cooking, shredding, and chile-ing the meat, we picked up the assembly line portion. 165 tamales and 5 hours later we put in the last batch to be steamed and ravenously tore open a couple… for, umm… you know – quality control.
But without further ado, I bring you my family recipe for tamales. It has been tried and tested over the past 20 years into perfection.
Oh, and if you’re squeamish about lard you may want to stop eating them.
Enjoy!
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Mom’s Recipes
Tamales
Do day before: Boil with lots of water, some salt (guesstimate about a tablespoon), and 3 cloves of chopped garlic – a large pork roast with bone Cook until it is falling apart. This can be done in a large slow cooker or a large pot with cover. When done, take meat out and de-bone it. Shred meat and a little of the fat. Store in covered dish and save the broth. Only discard the bone and the big chunks of fat.
Day of making the tamales:
First make chile:
- 8 chiles Anchos
- 8 chiles Guajilos
Cut off stem and take out seeds/veins. Boil the chiles until they are soft. Blend in blender with some pork/chicken broth, cumin, salt and garlic (to taste). If chile comes out too hot you can mix in a can of tomato sauce to tame the flavor. 16 chiles make a lot so you may have to do half at a time. Consistency should be pretty thick not too watery.
Second mix the meat with the chile and simmer until it is ready for tamales. You may have left over chile. Make sure that the shredded meat is saturated with the chile otherwise they will come out dry. Mix now and then so it won’t stick to pot. Keep covered. When done, set aside.
Third prepare the corn husks. Wash and spread out in sink in plenty of water.
Fourth prepare the masa. 5 pounds (*masa is the “dough” and you can find it at your local Mexican food grocer.*)
Mix masa with:
- 2 tablespoons of baking powder
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 1 3/4 tablespoons of salt (more if needed) Taste
After mixing thoroughly, knead in 2-3 cups of lard or Crisco shortening. Add broth from the pork roast and knead until the consistency is right for spreading on the corn husks.
Last get a large group of family or friends to help spread masa on husks and then put the meat/chile in the middle, wrap and fold.
Use a pot made for tamale cooking or rig a regular large pan so that water can be poured at bottom to steam the tamales. Arrange tamales so that steam can go between them. Large pot of tamales takes about 1 hour to cook. Check the tamales after 40 minutes or so to see if they are done. It depends on how many tamales you are cooking at a time. When done – serve them hot.
Say, “Que ricos!”
We haven’t made tamales in years because we buy them from the church ladies. This recipe sounds different than the one we use, but sounds amazing none-the-less. Bring on the lard!!
P.S. Your family is adorable.
My hubby would love these!
How about I just come to your house and let you cook them for me?! =)
I think that there should be a tamale making lesson next time our paths cross. These look DELICIOUS and I’ve never tried on before…
Love when traditions survive. My family doesn’t have any traditions, maybe I’ll have to make some. =)
I’ve made many batches of tamales in my day and it ain’t as easy as you’ve made it look. Recipe bookmarked for when I’m feeling domestic.
YUM!Tamales are my favorite, but I’ve never gotten to make them. My roomate freshman year said it took her and her fam forever to make them, so I knew they were quite the undertaking. Good thing I have a great mercado down the street where I can get the real deal easily.
LOOOVE me some tamales. Good ones are hard to find and I’m too lazy to cook them myself 🙂
I don’t blame you. They are so much work and they probably have the tools to do it faster and more efficiently.
(And thanks!)
If you come all the way to Austin, I will cook for you.
If we cross I’m not sure we will have enough time to do everything! LOL
They are so good… oh so good. Especially with a fried egg on top.
Yeah, they can be difficult but much better when you have tons of company. Add some booze next time?
I don’t think people realize exactly what goes into it. Not to mention, you have enough tamales to feed yourself for a year.
They are SUPER hard to find. The ladies that sell them can be super hit or miss – especially if they skimp on the meat.
Can I book a weekly delivery PLEASE!?
I haven’t had tamales in years, I’ll need to try them again next time I’m in a good place to get them. I fear there are too many shortcomings of the German grocery stores to be able to recreate these here!
I ate loads of tamales while backpacking in South America. Seeing photos of them brings back a lot of good memories. It’s great to know that if I decide to get ambitious in the kitchen I can refer to your recipe here 😉
Wow! Those look amazing. I’ve been on a crazy Mexican kick recently and this post may have just put me over the edge. 🙂
NO WAY. That amount of work would kill me.
I can’t imagine that you would find what you need there. If we had problems finding habaneros, finding guajillos and anchos would be painful.
I always have to bite my tongue when introducing a friend to tamales the first time, lest I reveal to them that lard is a key ingredient! We’re heading to Oaxaca for Semana Santa and I’m planning on OD’ing on tamales.
And even those are completely different than the ones in Mexico. I like them all!
I am always on a Mexican kick. Although this week I’m going big – EMPANADAS!
Oh God I miss Oaxaca. The food. YUM! Make sure to head to the carne asada hall for me.
Meat by the kilo, how could I miss that?
You better be hosting a cooking class when I make my way to visit you guys.