TAMALE EN HOJA
Time: 2-2.5 hours
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
3 cups ground corn meal (maiz criollo preferentially)
1 cup water
1 lb. pork chunks
3 garlic cloves
1 onion
1 green pepper
½ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup cooking wine (vino seco)
1½ tbsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
Prep:
Dice green pepper into very small chunks.
Mince the onions and garlic very finely by using a grater, food processor, or blender.
Cube the pork chunks into small pieces, about 1/2 inch in size.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to low heat. This will be used to boil the tamales once they are ready to cook.
Directions:
Mix the ground corn and water well, then strain liquid very well into a large bowl. Throw the fibers away, the liquid will be base of the tamale (if you want a more grainy tamale, you can incorporate half of the corn back into the liquid or skip the straining process all together).
In a saucepan, add oil and sauté the pork on medium heat until well cooked and almost crispy. Remove pork from pan and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.
Bring the heat to low, then fry the diced garlic, onion, green pepper, tomato sauce, and cooking wine in the fat. Once well cooked and soft, mix back in the pork.
Add this mixture to the corn and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.
Put the mixture into corn husks or banana leaves and tie up with twine.
Cook them in a pot of boiling water for 1 to 1.5 hour, until ready to serve (alternatively, you can cook them in a pressure cooker set to 15 lbs. of pressure for 10 to 15 minute).
Notes & Comments:
These were surprisingly very easy to make, and fun! Definitely a keeper, and a nice recipe to experiment with and customize.
I have always had tamales a little bit grainy, so that is why I tweaked the recipe a tiny bit.
I have seen some recipes where people get an ear of corn, remove the kernels with a knife, then blitz them in a food processor. This is then used as the base.
You can adjust the amount of onion and green pepper to your liking. I tweaked this recipe with ½ green pepper and ¾ of a large onion.
I would also add a little more salt next time, maybe about 2 to 2.5 tbsp.
If you cannot find corn husks or banana leaves, I've heard that some people use aluminum foil.
If you can find them, ají cachucha are a common substitute for the green pepper. These are very small, but sweet, pepper. Just cut them very finely.
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Receta Original
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TAMAL EN HOJA
3 tazas de maíz molido ½ taza salsa de tomate
1 taza de agua ¼ taza vino seco
1 lb. masa de puerco* 1 lb. masa de puerco*
3 dientes de ajo 1 ½ cda. de sal
1 cebolla ¼ cdta. de pimienta
1 ají
Mezcle el maíz molido con el agua y cuélelo todo.
Sofría las masas de puerco y en la grasa que sueltan haga un sofrito con ajo, cebolla, ají, tomate y vino seco. Añada todo esto al maíz. Sazónelo con sal y pimienta. Ponga la mezcla en hojas o en moldecitos para tamales. Cocínelos en agua hirviendo durante una hora. En olla de presión a 15 libras de presión durante 10 o 15 minutos. De aproximadamente 8 tamales.
*She put 1 lb. masa de puerco on the list twice. It's the same.
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