Best 4 Red Chile Pork Tamales Recipes
**Red Chile Pork Tamales: A Culinary Journey Through Mexican Flavors**
Tamales, a traditional Mesoamerican dish, have captivated taste buds for centuries with their unique blend of flavors and textures. Originating in Mexico, these steamed parcels of masa (corn dough) envelop a variety of delectable fillings, offering a symphony of tastes and aromas. Among the most beloved tamale variations are the Red Chile Pork Tamales, where tender, slow-cooked pork is simmered in a rich and spicy red chile sauce, creating a filling that is both flavorful and aromatic. These tamales are typically wrapped in corn husks, lending an earthy fragrance and serving as a natural vessel for the savory filling. Accompaniments like salsa, guacamole, and crema Mexicana enhance the overall experience, adding layers of freshness and creaminess. This article presents a comprehensive guide to crafting these culinary delights, featuring two enticing recipes: one for the classic Red Chile Pork Tamales and another for a delightful vegetarian alternative, the Roasted Poblano and Corn Tamales. With step-by-step instructions, helpful tips, and a glossary of essential ingredients, this guide empowers home cooks to embark on a culinary journey, exploring the vibrant flavors of Mexican cuisine through the art of tamale making.
PORK RED-CHILE TAMALES
We can think of plenty of reasons to gather with family this time of year, but the best one might be simply having the extra sets of hands for tamale-making. Tamales have long been associated with the holidays - they're often part of the Mexican celebration of Las Posadas, commemorating Mary and Joseph's search for shelter before Jesus's birth - but the tradition of eating them has become more than just a religious practice. Tamales are a way to reconnect with family and Latinx heritage, and this starts with the big job of making them. Tamales can be labor intensive, so why not get the whole family involved and host a tamalada? If enough people are making and filling the masa and wrapping the bundles, you can crank out dozens of tamales at a time. Try a few batches this year using this recipe from Pauline Pimienta, co-owner of The Tamale Store in Phoenix. Her family's red-chile tamales are so beloved, customers start placing their holiday orders in August! - Nora Horvath, for Food Network Magazine.
Provided by Food Network
Categories main-dish
Time 5h40m
Yield 26 tamales
Number Of Ingredients 15
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 CHILE PORK TAMALES
While it's common to make tamales all year round, these delicious steamed corn husk-wrapped bundles are traditionally made and shared around the holidays. Everyone has their favorite filling--chicken, beef and pork are all popular. In our version, the pork shoulder filling is cooked low and slow in a flavorful sauce of dried chiles, aromatics and spices and then wrapped in a fluffy, tender masa dough. Enjoy these tamales on their own, or with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Provided by Food Network Kitchen
Time 4h15m
Yield 32 tamales
Number Of Ingredients 21
Steps:
- For the braised pork: Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds black pepper and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth and guajillo, ancho and pasilla chiles and bring to a boil. Cover, turn off the heat and let sit until the chiles have softened, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a blender with the cumin, oregano, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and a few grinds black pepper and puree until very smooth.
- Pour the sauce back into the Dutch oven, then add the pork and bay leaves. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low to maintain a steady simmer and cook until the pork is very tender and the sauce is brick red, 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, soak the corn husks in a bowl of hot water, using a plate to keep them submerged, until pliable, about 1 hour.
- Discard the bay leaves from the pork, then shred the pork with 2 forks. Stir in the apple cider vinegar; taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper. Set aside to cool slightly.
- For the masa dough: Beat the lard, baking powder, chile powder and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and light in texture, about 2 minutes. (Alternatively, use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.) Reduce the speed to low and add the masa harina. Once just incorporated, slowly add 2 1/2 cups of the chicken broth and mix until combined, 2 to 4 minutes. Test the dough by placing a 1/2-teaspoon dollop in a cup of cold water--it should float. If not, add the remaining 1/2 cup broth and mix until combined, about 2 minutes more. This will ensure that the masa dough is light and fluffy.
- Drain the husks and pat dry. Starting 1/2 inch from the wide end of a husk, spread about 3 tablespoons of the masa dough down the length of the husk, leaving a 1-inch border on the sides. Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of the pork filling down the center of the dough, then fold in the sides of the husk, wrapping the dough around the filling. Fold up the narrow end of the husk. Repeat with the remaining husks, dough and filling.
- Set a steamer basket in a large pot filled with 1 to 2 inches of water. Arrange the tamales standing open-end up in the steamer. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover and steam until the dough is firm, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the steamer and cool slightly before unwrapping. Serve with lime wedges if desired.
RED CHILE AND PORK TAMALE FILLING
This is a wonderful tamale filling! Full of flavor and a very traditional recipe. I have posted the recipe for the shredded pork separately. Please note that the amount of shredded pork used is an estimate. The recipe calls for a 2 1/2 pound pork butt. The amount of pork you end up with, will depend on fat, bone, etc. This recipe came from the Arizona Republic Newspaper and is absolutely wonderful. The directions for the masa dough for the tamales can be found on the package or see my recipe for fresh masa mix (much more work than the packaged masa mix). This recipe does not include the preparation or assembly of the tamales. It is just the recipe for the filling. Prep time does not include preparation of pork or assembly of tamales.
Provided by sassafrasnanc
Categories Pork
Time 40m
Yield 45 tamales, 45 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles on contact.
- Meanwhile, remove stems and seeds from chiles while rinsing under cold running water.
- Place them on the griddle and toast, 3 or 4 at a time, just until the aroma is released, 30 to 60 seconds. Be careful not to burn them.
- Place the chiles in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let soak until softened, about 10 minutes.
- Drain the chiles and discard the liquid.
- Place chiles, oregano, 2 garlic cloves and the water or stock in blender and process to a smooth puree. Add more water or stock if it is too thick.
- Work puree through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl.
- Discard any solids that remain.
- Pour in a little more liquid to help rinse the sauce through the sieve.
- In heavy, medium-size saucepan, heat lard or oil over medium-high heat until rippling.
- Add remaining garlic and brown in the hot fat, pressing down with the back of a cooking spoon to release flavor.
- Remove and discard garlic.
- Add flour, stirring constantly until golden.
- Add strained chile puree and salt to the pan and reduce the heat to low.
- It will splatter, so be careful.
- Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the raw taste is gone and the flavor of the chiles has mellowed, about 10 minutes.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of chile to mix with masa dough.
- Mix shredded pork into remaining mixture. Makes enough filling for 45 to 50 tamales.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 17.3, Fat 0.9, SaturatedFat 0.3, Cholesterol 0.5, Sodium 54, Carbohydrate 2.3, Fiber 0.9, Protein 0.5
RED-CHILE PORK TAMALES
Making real tamales with anything but good, fresh lard is like making duck confit or pork rillettes with, say, vegetable oil. It can certainly be done, but at a flavorful sacrifice. Two-thirds of a cup is used in the base tamale batter.
Provided by Martha Stewart
Categories Food & Cooking Ingredients Meat & Poultry Pork Recipes
Yield Makes 12
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Reconstitute the corn husks.
- In the jar of a blender, combine chiles, garlic, pepper, and cumin. Add 1 1/2 cups water, and blend until a smooth puree forms.
- Strain mixture into a medium saucepan. Add the pork, 1 3/4 cups water, and salt. Place over medium heat; cook, stirring frequently, until liquid has reduced to consistency of a thick sauce and meat is very tender, 50 to 60 minutes. Using a fork, break up the meat.
- Place the classic tamale batter in a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons sauce; combine.
- Assemble twelve tamales with the batter and the pork filling, using large husks for wrappers and ties, and reserving smaller ones to line basket and cover the tamales.
- Prepare the steamer, and steam the tamales. Let stand until batter has firmed. Serve tamales with the salsa.
Tips:
- Soak the corn husks in warm water for at least 30 minutes before using to make them pliable.
- To prevent the tamales from sticking to the steamer, grease the steamer basket with vegetable oil or line it with parchment paper.
- If you don't have a steamer, you can cook the tamales in a large pot of boiling water. Just make sure to cover the pot tightly and steam the tamales for the same amount of time.
- To check if the tamales are done, insert a toothpick into the center of one. If it comes out clean, the tamales are done.
- Serve the tamales hot with your favorite toppings, such as salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or cheese.
Conclusion:
Red chile pork tamales are a delicious and traditional Mexican dish that is perfect for any occasion. They are made with a simple dough that is filled with a flavorful mixture of pork, red chile sauce, and spices. The tamales are then steamed until they are cooked through and the dough is firm. Red chile pork tamales are a delicious and satisfying dish that is sure to please everyone at your table.
Are you curently on diet or you just want to control your food's nutritions, ingredients? We will help you find recipes by cooking method, nutrition, ingredients...
Check it out »
You'll also love
