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Red Chile Pork Tamales

Red Chile Pork Tamales

tasty from scratch red chile pork tamales
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 4 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 5 hours 30 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Course
Servings 24 tamales

Ingredients
  

For the pork:

  • 2 lbs boneless pork shoulder trimmed and cut into large cubes
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 while onion quartered
  • 1 large carrot cut into a few pieces
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 2 bay leaves

For the red chile sauce:

  • 4 California chiles stemmed and seeded
  • 1 guajillo chile stemmed and seeded
  • 1 dried chipotle chile stemmed and seeded
  • 2 plum tomatoes halved
  • 2 tomatillos halved
  • 1 tbsp roasted peanuts
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
  • salt and pepper to taste

For the tamales:

  • 30 large corn husks for tamales cleaned and soaked for 1 hr in hot water
  • 1 cup fat from cooking the pork sub plain crisco or lard if you don't have enough fat
  • 3 1/3 cup masa harina
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 cups pork stock from cooking the pork

Instructions
 

For the pork:

  • Cook the pork the day before if possible because you need a few hours. Season the pork with salt and pepper and place into a large oven safe pot with a lid over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and bay leaves. Cover with water by 3 inches and bring to a boil. Cover and place into a 325 degree oven for 3 hours or so or until the pork is easily shredded.
  • Shred the meat and strain the broth into a clean container. Discard the carrot, onion etc. Place the broth in the fridge so that you can allow the fat to set up and you can skim it off and use it for the tamales.

For the sauce:

  • Place the dried chiles into a skillet over medium heat and toast them a little until they are fragrant. Don't brown or burn them. Add a cup or two of water and let them simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and let them sit 30 minutes to soften them up.
  • Line a baking sheet with foil and heat your oven to broil. Add the tomatoes and tomatillos and broil for 5 minutes, then stir and broil again for 5 more minutes, until they have charred spots.
  • Place the tomatoes and tomatillos into the blender with the softened chiles, peanuts, garlic, black pepper, sesame seeds and cumin, along with a little broth from the chiles or the pork. Blend until smooth, then pour through a fine mesh strainer and taste and season with salt.
  • When ready to make your tamales, combine the pork and sauce and cook over medium heat until the sauce is thickened and not much liquid is left. Season this mix further if needed. Set aside to cool a bit while you prepare the masa.

To prep the husks:

  • Rinse all the husks and discard any that are moldy or too small or otherwise not suitable, keeping some of the small ones for tying strips. Place in a large bowl and submerge in hot water (use a plate if needed to keep them under). Leave for 30-60 minutes then drain and rinse them. Keep them covered while you are making tamales so they stay moist.

For the masa:

  • Take your pork broth out of the fridge and skim all the fat off. I had about 3/4 cup and used 1/4 crisco with it to get to 1 cup of fat. Place the fat into a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and whip on medium for about 5 minutes until very light and fluffy. Whisk together the masa, baking powder and salt and add to the mixer. Mix on low until it is well mixed. This won't come fully together but that is ok. Slowly add in 2 cups of your reserved broth from cooking the pork, or you can use chicken broth or water. The dough should come together into a smooth, spongy mass. It should be spreadable but not loose.
  • Test it by dropping a tsp sized ball into a glass of water. If it floats up to the top or half way up, it is good. If not, continue to mix your dough on medium for another 5-10 minutes, repeating the test until enough air is incorporated.

For the tamales:

  • Spread the husks out one at a time with the narrow side facing you. Dry the inside and then spread 2 tbsp or so of masa in a square inside the husk (see pics). I use a heaping cookie scoop to measure and I prefer to spread the masa with my hands but you can also use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.
  • Place a heaping tbsp or so of filling down the center in a line. Wrap both sides of the tamale up so that the masa meets in the center and encloses the filling. Wrap the husks around the side and fold up the bottom edge to seal it. Tie it up and set aside to do them all.
  • When ready, prep your steamer setup and steam for 60-90 minutes, until the tamales easily separate from the sides of the wrapper. Serve hot.
Keyword Lunch, Main Dish, Mexican, Pork
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