Real Homemade Tamales

These tamales are delicious! I have been looking for a good tamales recipe for years. One day I went to the international market and stood in the Mexican aisle until a woman with a full cart came by. I just asked her if she knew how to make tamales. This is her recipe with a few additions from me! This is great served with refried beans and a salad.


Latin American · Mexican · Main Dishes · Tamale Recipes


Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 3 hrs
Servings: 16
Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
Yield: 16 tamales

Ingredients

Ingredients List
  • 1 ΒΌ pounds pork loin

  • 1 large onion, halved

  • 1 clove garlic


Directions

  1. Make the filling: Place pork, onion, and garlic in a Dutch oven. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until pork is cooked through, about 2 hours.

  2. Meanwhile, make chile sauce: Use rubber gloves to remove stems and seeds from chiles. Place chiles in a saucepan with 2 cups water. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

  3. Transfer chiles and cooking water to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain mixture into a bowl and stir in salt. Set aside.

  4. Shred cooked pork and mix in 1 cup chile sauce. Reserve remaining sauce for serving.

  5. Prepare husks and dough: Soak corn husks in a bowl of warm water until softened, about 30 minutes.

  6. While the husks are soaking, beat lard with 1 tablespoon broth until fluffy. Combine masa harina, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl; stir into the lard mixture, adding more broth as needed to form a spongy dough.

  7. Remove husks from water and pat dry. Spread dough out over husks to 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick.

  8. Place 1 tablespoon pork filling over center of each. Fold the sides, top, and bottom of each husk in toward the center to enclose dough.

  9. Arrange tamales in a steamer basket. Place over simmering water and steam for 1 hour.

  10. Remove tamales from husks. Drizzle with remaining chile sauce and top with sour cream, or mix sour cream into chile sauce first for a creamy sauce.

Tips

The pork can be replaced with either chicken or beef.


Nutrition Facts (per serving)

Nutrition Facts
236 Calories
17g Fat
13g Carbs
9g Protein


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