Tamales Oaxaqueños Oaxacan Style Tamales Recipes

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.

TAMALES OAXAQUEñOS (OAXACAN-STYLE TAMALES)

Steps:

• Once cut to the desired size, place them under running water to wash them well. Remember that they break easily, be careful.
• Once washed, let them drain and finally dry them with a kitchen towel. When you dry them, do it from side to side following the lines of the leaves to avoid breaking them.
• Heat a comal or a pan over medium-high heat and warm up the banana leaves. You will see that as they heat up they change to a lighter green color. They will become shiny, flexible and more resistant. Put them aside.
• Mix the cooked and shredded chicken with the mole until well integrated. Cover and set aside until ready to use.
• Beat the lard or shortening until creamy, pour the olive oil and keep stirring until well integrated. This process can be done by hand, but if you prefer you can also do it with a blender.
• Add the Maseca flour, salt, and baking powder and stir. Pour half of the chicken broth and mix. Add more chicken broth as needed until you get a dough that feels moist but not runny and it peels off your hand easily.
• I recommend dividing the dough into 15-16 equal balls so that all the tamales are more or less the same size. Take a 1/3 measuring cup, fill it with the dough, take it out and form a ball of approx 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. Repeat.
• Take one of the banana leaves and place it on a surface with the paler green side up (this is the side where the filling goes) and with the lines horizontally.
• Take one of the masa balls and place it in the center of the leaf. Spread it with your fingers or your hand to the desired thickness.
• Place 1-2 teaspoons of the chicken mole in the center of the masa. Fold the top sheet so that it covers half of the filling, repeat folding the bottom.
• Now wrap the tamal in the banana leaf, and fold the two ends down. If you wish, you can tie the tamales with kitchen twine.
• Pour 3-4 cups of water into the bottom of a steamer or tamalera. Place a rack and cover it with some of the banana leaves that were leftover.
• Put the tamales horizontally in the steamer and cover with the rest of the banana leaves, cover with the lid and wait until the water starts to boil.
• When it comes to a boil, lower the heat to keep the water simmering. Steam the tamales for an hour.
• Turn off the heat and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. The tamales are ready when they come off the sheet easily.
• Put the tamales horizontally in a tamalera or steamer, cover them with a layer of banana leaves.
• Cover the steamer and let them cook for approximately an hour or until the tamales open cleanly without the masa sticking to the leaves.

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.