As society collapses, I fear one of the casualties will be drug-deal tamales. You know, those tamales you buy from Mexican grandmothers scurrying about in parking lots when it’s been six months since you last had a good tamale. I haven’t seen our tamale dealer in at least a year. I hope she’s ok. She made some truly divine chicken and green chili tamales. I’ve only made the pork and red sauce tamales.
For the past 35 years, my extended family has gathered for a reunion of sorts on the first Saturday in December. We spend the entire day making tamales. As my immediate family now lives a bit too far to make the journey, especially in winter, we now have our own celebration. We get an assembly line going and people rotate in and out of seats to take a short shift putting the tamales together. They aren’t at all difficult, just a bit time-consuming. However, it’s nice to get a big batch done and have them ready for a quick meal when the need arises. And fortunately, if you pressure can the pork in advance, the remaining ingredients are all shelf-stable and quite inexpensive. Tamales make a great entirely-from-food-storage entrée.
Following is the recipe I most often use. Sometimes I will substitute canned pork for the fresh pork and then add in some garlic and chopped onions to make tamale day easier. The red sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated.
Meat
3 ½ lbs pork shoulder or pork butt, trimmed of fat and cubed
10 cups water
1 medium onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ teaspoons salt
4 cups red sauce, recipe follows
In a 5-quart Dutch oven, bring pork, water, onion, garlic and 1 ½ teaspoons salt to boil. Simmer, covered, about 2 ½ hours or until meat is very tender. Remove meat from broth and allow both meat and broth to cool.
Shred the meat using two forks. Strain the broth and reserve 6 cups. In a large saucepan, heat the red chili sauce and add meat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Red Sauce for Tamales
15 large dried chilies (such as Anaheim, New Mexico, California, or pasilla)
4-5 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons olive oil or melted shortening
Remove stems and seeds from dried chili peppers. Place peppers in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast in 350°F oven for 2-5 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 2 ½ cups of the soaking water into a blender (reserve the remaining soaking water). Add garlic, cumin, and salt. Blend until smooth.
In a 2-quart saucepan, stir flour into oil or shortening over medium heat until browned. Carefully stir in blended chili mixture.
Simmer uncovered for 5-10 or until slightly thickened. (If sauce gets too thick, stir in up to 1 cup of the remaining soaking water until you reach the desired thickness.)
Masa
¾ cup lard
6 cups masa harina
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
50 dried corn husks (may substitute fresh sweet corn husks or parchment paper, but be aware that the dried corn husks impart some flavor to tamales that will be missed)
Beat lard on medium speed in a large bowl for 1 minute. In a separate bowl, stir together masa harina, chili powder, salt, and baking powder. Alternately add masa harina mixture and broth to lard, beating well after each addition. (Add just enough broth to make a thick, creamy paste.) In the meantime, soak corn husks in warm water for at least 20 minutes. Rinse to remove any corn silk and drain well.
To assemble tamales:
Spread about 3 tablespoons on the center of the corn husk. (Each corn husk should be about 8” long and 6” wide at the top. If the husks are small, overlap two small ones to form one regular husk.)
Place about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture in the middle of the masa. Fold in the sides of the husk and fold up the bottom. Place a foil ball in the center of a steamer basket placed in the middle of a Dutch oven. Lean the tamales in the basket, open side up. Add water to the Dutch oven just below the basket. Bring water to a boil and then reduce heat. Cover and steam 40 minutes, adding water as necessary.
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