Fish Tamales Tamales De Pescado Recipes

FISH TAMALES

Steps:

• Soak corn husks in water for at least 1 hour. Drain.
• Combine green chiles, lemon juice, hot sauce, 1 garlic clove, and onion in a blender and blend. Add olive oil slowly, blending sauce on low speed.
• Place tilapia on a griddle over medium heat. Top fillets with roasted red peppers and 1 bay leaf each. Pour sauce evenly over the fish. Add 3 garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cook for 5 minutes; flip and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes more. Remove sauce and reserve in a bowl. Transfer tilapia to a separate bowl and mash.
• Combine green cabbage, red cabbage, vinegar, and mustard in a bowl. Combine the reserved sauce, masa, lard, and baking powder in a large bowl; mix well. Add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the mixture is as thick as biscuit dough. Divide dough into 50 equal-sized balls.
• Flatten balls into circles using a tortilla press or 2 cutting boards and 2 sheets of waxed paper. Place a circle into a soaked and drained corn husk; add 1 1/2 ounces of fish mix in a line parallel with the husk. Top with a small amount of cabbage. Fold sides of dough over the filling and roll the husk around the tamale, folding in 1 end after rolling. Repeat with remaining husks, fish, and cabbage.
• Combine water, chili powder, and remaining 2 garlic cloves in a saucepan with a steamer basket; bring to a boil. Stand tamales in basket with the folded ends down. Cover and steam for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and remove tamales from husks.

FISH TAMALES (TAMALES DE PESCADO)

Steps:

• Blend the oil and garlic and let stand overnight.
• Put the corn husks in a bowl and add boiling water to cover. Let stand until cool. Drain.
• Lay the husks on a flat surface and place a fish fillet in the center of each. Sprinkle fish with one tablespoon of the garlic and oil mixture and with salt and pepper.
• Roll the husks to enclose the fish completely. If necessary, use two husks, ends overlapping. Tear off eight thin strips of corn husks and use as ''string'' to tie the ends of the tamale rolls. The ends might not be tightly closed, depending on the size of the husks. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
• When ready to cook, preheat a charcoal or gas grill. Add the fish in corn husks. Let cook three to five minutes (depending on intensity of heat and distance of food from the fire). Turn the tamales and cook two to four minutes on the second side.
• Heat the sauce briefly.
• Open up each tamale and spoon the sauce over it.

TíA CHITA'S TRADITIONAL MEXICAN PORK TAMALES

Steps:

• There are a few steps to making tamales and it is usually an all-day affair.
• Cooking the meat: Chop the pork butt into 3-inch cubes; reserve the bone.
• Add the oil to a large pot or Dutch oven and place over medium-high heat (we use a Dutch oven because it seems to cook faster). Add the pork butt to the pot. Sear the sides slightly until just golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Add the peppercorns, bay leaves, onion, 3 cloves of the garlic and 1 tablespoon salt. Add 2 to 4 cups of water, or enough to cover the pork butt, then add the reserved bone. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and bring it to a boil. Cook on medium heat until very tender, about 2 hours.
• Preparing the corn husks: Separate the corn husks and take off all the little hairs and dust from them. Allow them to soak in hot water while the pork is cooking (or soak overnight).
• Carefully remove the pork from the broth with tongs to a plate or cutting board. Pour the leftover broth through a colander into a large bowl so that all the onion and other ingredients stay behind. Set the strained broth aside for later (about 4 cups).
• Shred the meat with 2 forks into small bite-size pieces. (You want it small enough that you aren't getting large pieces or chunks into the tamal.) Transfer to a medium saucepan.
• Preparing the chile: Cut the stems from the ancho chiles, open them and remove all the seeds and veins. Put them in a 3-quart saucepan, cover with water and add 1 teaspoon salt. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, remove from the heat, set aside, cover and let steam for 5 minutes.
• To a blender, add the softened chiles, ground cumin and 1/4 teaspoon salt and blend. Press in the remaining clove of garlic and slowly add 2/3 cup of the reserved pork broth. Continue to blend until smooth. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup of the chile mixture for the masa, then pour the remaining red chile sauce over the shredded pork and mix together to combine. Keep warm over low heat.
• Preparing the masa: Melt the lard in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Pour the melted lard into a large bowl. Add the masa harina to the bowl of lard, then add the baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, reserved 1/4 cup of the red chile sauce and 1/2 cup of the reserved pork broth. Knead well. Add more pork broth as needed until the dough is moistened and fluffy.
• Assembling the tamales: Drain the husks and pat them dry with a clean towel. Spread the kneaded masa onto the smooth side of the corn husks with a spoon in the center of the husks (2 to 3 tablespoons of masa per husk). Add the meat to the center of the masa, 1 to 2 tablespoons per husk. Fold over the husks in half vertically so that the masa wraps around the filling completely. Fold the pointy side up at the end to hold the tamale in place.
• Cooking the tamales: Arrange the tamales open-side up around the inside of a steamer basket that fits into a large (10-quart) pot, packing the tamales together. If there's extra space in the steamer basket, place a mason jar or small heatproof ceramic bowl upside down in the center, arranging the tamales around it. Arrange a layer of husks around the sides of the steamer basket and up over the top of the tamales and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Fill the large pot with 1 to 2 inches of water. (Note: You can put a penny at the bottom of the pot so you can hear it rolling when you need more water.) Bring the water to a rolling simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium low, set the steamer basket inside of the pot and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Allow the tamales to steam for 1 to 2 hours or until the masa pulls away from the husks. Let sit to cool down for 5 to 10 minutes. Use tongs to remove the tamales afterwards and set on a jelly roll pan to cool down.

FISH TAMALES IN BANANA LEAVES WITH ACHIOTE BUTTER AND CORN-TOMATO SALSA

Steps:

• For the achiote butter: Mix everything in a food processor until well combined.
• For the corn salsa: Mix everything in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• For the tamales: Cut banana leaves into approximately 12-inch squares and wipe clean with damp towel. Place about 3 ounces of prepared tamale masa in the middle of the leaf and place a piece of fish on top of the masa. Coat the fish with achiote-chile butter then top with another spoonful of masa and spread over the fish to completely encase. Fold the edges of the banana leaf over the fish, making a packet. Tie with a string and steam for 10 minutes. Serve with Corn Salsa.

TILAPIA TAMALES #RSC

Steps:

• Sprinkle the tilapia fillets with the juice of one lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to assemble tamales.
• Make the masa dough for the tamales: Beat one stick of butter with 2 tablespoons sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and beat until mixture is smooth.
• Place the corn kernels in a food processor or blender with the buttermilk and the salt and process until smooth. Add corn to the butter/egg mixture and beat until well blended.
• Stir the baking powder into the masa (harina de maiz). Add dry ingredients to the corn/butter mixture, mixing until well blended. Set aside.
• Whisk together the softened cream cheese, mayonnaise, lime juice and red chile sauce to taste.
• Assemble tamales: Place a 7 by 12 inch rectangle of Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick foil on the counter, with the non-stick side facing up.
• Spread about 1/3 cup of the corn masa dough into a 3 x 5 inch rectangle in the center of the foil. Spread 1 tablespoon of the chile cream cheese mixture on top of the masa, and top with 1 tablespoon each chopped red pepper and green onions. Place one tilapia flillet on top of the cream cheese and vegetables, and spread another tablespoon of the chile cream cheese over the fish. Sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Top with another 1/3 cup masa, and spread it to cover the filling.
• Fold one short end of the foil up over the filling. Fold the two long sides in over the filling. There will be one end that is still open. Lift the tamale with the open end facing upwards and twist foil to close that end.
• Make 3 more tamales in the same way.
• Place tamales in a steamer basket, and place the basket over a pot with 2 inches of simmering water. Tamales should not touch the water. Cover tightly with a lid and steam tamales for 1 hour, checking water level from time to time.
• Let tamales cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.
• Tamales can be made ahead and reheated in the oven or in a steamer. Unwrap tamales before reheating them in the microwave. This recipe makes 4 large tamales. You can divide the filling into smaller portions to make 8-10 smaller tamales, or even 16 appetizer-size tamales.

TAMALES OAXAQUEñOS (OAXACAN-STYLE TAMALES)

Steps:

• Beat 9 ounces lard in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Add salt and continue beating for a few minutes. Add masa harina and beat well until combined. Add chicken broth, 1/4 cup at a time, beating until masa has a smooth and workable consistency similar to cookie dough, about 3/4 cup total. Test if the masa is ready by dropping a small ball of masa into a glass of cold water; if it floats, it's ready, if not, beat the dough a little longer.
• Combine tomatillos, ancho chile pepper, mulato chile pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano in a blender; blend until smooth.
• Heat remaining 2 ounces lard in a skillet and cook tomatillo sauce until lightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add shredded chicken and a little of the remaining chicken broth. Cook over low heat until chicken filling has thickened, about 10 minutes.
• Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons masa mixture onto 1 banana leaf, filling it up to 2 inches from the bottom and 1/4 inch from the top. Add 1 tablespoon of the chicken filling in the center of the masa mixture. Fold sides of banana leaf together, one over the other. Fold the bottom of the banana leaf over the seam of the 2 folded sides and tie together with kitchen string. Repeat with remaining banana leaves.
• Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add tamales with the open side up and cook until filling is heated through and separates from the leaf, 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. Let tamales rest for 15 minutes before serving.