Pork Tamales With Red Chile Sauce Recipes

TAMALES DE PUERCO (RED PORK TAMALES)

Steps:

• Cut pork into 3 chunks and place in a large saucepan. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, and salt and cover with water. Bring to a boil; skim foam from surface. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove pork and let cool. Strain broth and reserve.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil while pork is cooking. Add tomatoes, arbol chiles, and guajillo chiles, and boil until chiles are soft, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, reserving cooking water, and allow to cool.
• Place corn husks in a bowl, cover with boiling water, and soak for 30 to 60 minutes. Drain, place on a work surface, and cover with a clean, damp towel.
• Combine tomatoes, 1/2 cup cooking water, chiles de arbol, guajillo chiles, and cornstarch in a blender; blend until smooth. Strain tomato sauce through a fine-mesh sieve.
• Beat lard with an electric mixer in a large bowl until fluffy. Combine masa, 1 cup reserved pork broth, 1 tablespoon salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl and mix until smooth. Add masa mixture to lard and mix until it has a smooth cookie dough consistency. 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, keep beating for a little longer.
• Shred cooled pork with 2 forks.
• Select 1 wide corn husk or 2 small ones. Spread about 2 tablespoons masa mixture onto the the corn husk, filling it up to 2 inches from the bottom and 1/4 inch from the top. Add 1 tablespoon of the tomato sauce and pork down the center of the masa mixture. Fold sides of husk together, 1 over the other. Fold the bottom of the husk over the seam of the 2 folded sides. Repeat with remaining husks.
• 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 husk, about 1 hour. Let tamales rest for 15 minutes before serving.

PORK TAMALES WITH RED CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Place dried chiles in a large pot filled with 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil for ten minutes. Pour cooked chiles along with the water into a blender. Add garlic and cumin and blend until mixture is smooth.Melt lard in a medium sauce pan then add chile sauce and cook on low heat for about ten minutes and set aside.
• Place pork butt in a roasting pan with onion, smashed garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, water and bake at 275 degrees Fahrenheight covered for about 4 - 6 hours or until tender and meat pulls away from the bone easily.Tip: I will usually bake the pork the night before. Before going to bed I place it in the oven and allow it to bake while sleeping and by morning the meat is done to perfection.Remove roasting pan from oven. Carefully lift meat from pan and place on a cutting board. Using two forks gently pull pork apart. This is what they call pulled pork because it pulls away so easily.Be sure to keep at least 2 cups of the juices from the pork because this will be used when making the masa. Any leftover juice can be place in plastic jars or ice trays and frozen or late use in other recipes if desiredPlace pulled pork in pan with 1 cup red chile sauce and stir to combine. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to assemble tamales.
• Place the lard and water in a stand mixer and beat until fluffy. Add a cup of corn flour, salt and baking powder and continue mixing. Alternate by adding flour and pork stock to mixer and beat until all blended. At the very end of mixing add 2 Tablespoons of red chile sauce and mix until completely combined.Tip: To make sure masa is ready take about a half Tablespoon and pop it into a cup of water. If it floats our masa is ready to use. If it sinks continue to mix for a few more seconds.
• Before assembling tamales first inspect corn husks to make sure there are no holes in them. If there are any holes just sit them aside as these can be used for the bottom of the pot.Submerge corn husks in a large pot of hot water. I use a large cereal bowl inverted sitting on the husks to keep them submerged. The goal is to work with pliable corn husks so they fold easily and don't crack and break while folding and rolling tamales.
• Remove warmed corn husks from water and shake off excess water. Put the small tapered end on the table towards you and the wider piece away from you. Place about 2 Tablespoons of prepared masa onto the upper half of the husk and make a hull n the center of the masa and place filling in the hull. Pull the two sides of the corn husk together, like a taco, and gently roll husk closed Tuck the lower part of the husk up and gently squeeze the rolled up husk making the tamale uniform in shape. Then place assembled tamales in a pile.
• Once all the tamales are made it is time to prepare for steaming. I use this 20 quart steamer stock pot for cooking tamales.Before adding the tamales to the steamer first prepare the pot. Add the steamer rack to the pot and fill with water just below the rack. Drop in a penny into the pot so if and when the water should evaporate while boiling the penny will start bounding around in the pot giving you some insight that water may need to be added to the pot.Now, place tamales in the steamer pot where they are standing straight up with the tops exposed. If the pot is not completely filled with tamales I use an aluminum pot like a meatloaf pan to support the tamales so they don't fall over.Over high heat steam tamales for one hour or until the dough has formed a solid shape. Keep an eye on the steamer making sure the water does not boil out.TIP: It's a good idea to have a tea kettle full of hot water in case the steamer boils out.Once the tamales are done turn the heat off and keep the tamales in the steamer with the lid on until cool enough to handle. Enjoy!

PORK RED-CHILE TAMALES

Steps:

• Make the pork: Combine the pork with the garlic, 1 tablespoon salt and 3 quarts cold water in a large pot or dutch oven. Bring to a boil, partially cover, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook until the pork is tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours, turning the pork halfway through and adding more water as needed to keep the pork submerged. Remove the pork to a plate, reserving the broth. Let the pork cool slightly, then shred.
• Make the salsa: Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the chiles and simmer until soft, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving the saucepan; transfer the softened chiles to a blender along with the granulated garlic, oregano, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add 1 1/2 cups of the pork broth and puree until smooth.
• Wipe out the reserved saucepan. Heat the canola oil in the pan over medium heat. Add all but 3/4 cup salsa to the pan and cook, stirring, until it thickens and darkens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the shredded pork and 1 cup pork broth. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 45 minutes. Season with salt.
• Make the masa: Mix the masa harina, baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Using clean hands, gradually mix in 3 1/2 cups warm pork broth, the reserved 3/4 cup salsa and the melted lard until smooth and fully combined; the mixture should be fluffy, almost like frosting. Season with salt.
• Assemble the tamales: Place a softened corn husk on a work surface. Spread 1/4 cup masa across the wider end of the corn husk. Add 2 tablespoons pork mixture in a line down the center. Fold in the sides of the husk to encase the filling, then fold in the narrower end so the goodness doesn't come out. Repeat with the remaining husks, dough and filling.
• Cook the tamales: Fill a tamale steamer or large pot with a steamer insert with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stand the tamales up in the steamer basket with the open end up. Steam, covered, until the tamales are softly set, about 1 1/2 hours, checking halfway through and adding more water if needed. Remove the tamales and let cool 10 to 15 minutes to firm up. Serve with salsa, cheese and sour cream.

RED CHILI SAUCE (TO BE USED WITH TRADITIONAL TAMALES)

Steps:

• 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 to 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 1/2 cups of the soaking water into a blender (save the remaining soaking water).
• Add garlic, cumin and salt.
• Cover and blend until smooth.
• In a 2-quart sauce pan, stir flour into oil or melted shortening over med heat until browned.
• Carefully stir in blended chili mixture.
• Simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes 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) Use this sauce for traditional tamales, recipe #15286.
• Note: When working with chilies, use rubber gloves to protect your skin, and avoid contact with your eyes. Wash hands throughly with soap and water to remove all of the chili oils.