Lasagna
Regina Schrambling
8910 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
8,910
4 hours
Updated Dec. 14, 2023
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For the pork: Heat the oven to 250 degrees. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, layer guajillo, chiles de árbol, poblano, onion, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, oregano, peppercorns, 5 teaspoons salt, pork and ¾ cup water over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a boil, cover pot and transfer to oven.
Braise pork until it is very tender and shreds easily, 3 to 3½ hours. Let cool, uncovered, for 15 minutes, then transfer pork to a large bowl and skim fat from the sauce. Using a potato masher or two large forks, smash or pull pork to shred the meat.
Transfer chile and spice mixture (including bay leaves) and the liquid to a blender and process until smooth. (It should be the consistency of a thick marinara sauce.) Transfer 2 cups of the sauce (leaving additional sauce in the blender to be used in the next step) to the shredded pork and stir until completely coated. Taste and season with salt, if necessary. (Filling can be made 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)
To the blender, add water to the reserved chile sauce to make 1¼ cups total. Add 4 teaspoons of salt and process until the salt is dissolved. Set aside to add to the masa in Step 6.
Soak corn husks in a large bowl of hot water until soft and pliable, about 15 minutes. Using your hands, swirl husks in water to loosen any silks or dirt. Drain, rinse and shake off excess water.
Meanwhile, make the masa: Combine masa harina, 2 cups warm water, lard and reserved 1¼ cups salted chile sauce in a large bowl. Mix with your hands until well incorporated and the mixture is shiny and smooth, about 5 minutes. The texture should resemble a very thick hummus; if it appears crumbly, add water 2 tablespoons at a time and mix thoroughly until it reaches the correct texture.
Clean your hands and slap the top of masa with your palm, immediately pulling your hand back. If masa doesn’t stick and your hand looks shiny, the dough is ready and has enough fat to prevent it from sticking to the corn husks. If the masa sticks, add another 2 tablespoons of lard and knead until incorporated; repeat slap test. If masa still sticks to your hand, repeat the process until you get there. (Another 2 tablespoons of lard should do it.)
Assemble the tamales: Set aside 16 husks that are at least 6 inches across at the widest part. (Keep extra on hand in case of tears. Reserve smaller husks for lining the pot.) Place a husk on a work surface and open it so the wide end is closest to you. Scoop ½ cup masa in the center of the husk. Using the back of a spoon or your hands, pat masa into an even ⅓-inch-thick layer on the bottom half of the husk, leaving a ½-inch border on the edge closest to you, and allowing plenty of room at the top to fold down later.
Place ⅓ cup of the pork filling down the center of the masa. Fold one long side of the husk over the filling, then the other. Fold the top end underneath. Set on a sheet pan seam-side up. Repeat with remaining tamales.
Steam the tamales: Line a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, deep enough to fit the tamales upright, with reserved husks. Arrange tamales standing up with the folded ends on the bottom of the pot and the seams facing the wall of the pot. Continue stacking tamales around the perimeter, leaning them against one another to keep the ends folded in tightly. If the pot has extra space in the middle when all of the tamales have been added, fill it with a ball of aluminum foil. Carefully pour water into the pot until it comes about ¾-inch up the side. Bring to a boil over high, then reduce heat to a medium boil. Cover pot and cook tamales for 1 hour, undisturbed, adding more water as needed to keep the pot steaming.
Check for doneness by removing one tamal from the pot; let cool for 3 minutes. (If you don’t let it rest before checking, masa will stick to the husk and appear gummy.) Remove the husk; it should peel back easily when it’s done. If masa sticks to the husk, it’s not ready. Refold and return tamal to the pot. Cook 5 minutes more and check again. Once tamales are done, turn off the heat, uncover and let tamales sit for 10 minutes before unwrapping.
Serve tamales with salsa and lime wedges.
Wow. This is as legit as it gets. Amazing recipe, truly, truly authentic. My mom does add other dried chiles, usually a mixture of guajillo, ancho and morita, but I have absolutely 0 complaints with the recipe. Rick traveling Mexico during Covid has given us the best Mexican recipes we could wish for. Authentic perfection.
For the masa, even if using fresh masa my mother-in-law insisted on whipping more shortening into the dough. She tested the dough's lightness by putting a small ball of dough into a glass of water. If the dough floated, it passed her test. If the dough didn't float, she wanted us to mix in more shortening. Every pork tamale had 3 olives included in it. And my tip: put a big pot of albondigas on to cook when the tamale making party starts. People will be hungry long before the tamales are ready.
I was just looking at this recipe as a vegan and had the idea of subbing the pork for jackfruit and the lard with Crisco.
You can also use parchment paper if no corn husks are available. Turkey can be used in place of pork, too. Good use for leftover turkey!
@Maria M you could make the tamales de rajas con queso (green chile and cheese)
I came here to say the same thing. My friends and I make them every Christmas.
Mi suegro and mi suegra, both Mexicanos, come from slight but critical (to them) variations. Mi suegro insists on spreading the masa oh so thin. It's more of a rich person's (he's not rich) tamal because it leaves room for more filling. So the way we do it in their house is to spread the masa like dragging cream cheese across a bagel, then holding it up to the light: if it's translucent, it's ready. If it's opaque, you need to thin the masa out by scraping it off a bit.
My husband likes bean tamales. They are his favorite. Growing up in a Mexican house, his family was so embarrassed serving bean tamales outside the home.
One of the standard three options in Baja offered by the street vendors on their motorcycles or beater cars. My favorite [Beef or chicken are the other two options].
This recipe is perfect! Authentic, clear, and the result is delicious. Thanks, Rick for another fantastic recipe! Follow the recipe as he writes it; it works!!! Rick's recipe for pineapple tamales is also fantastic.
From Google: Tamales are filling wrapped in a corn batter, wrapped in the corn husk to retain its shape. The steaming cooks the tamales without drying them out, and without introducing water or oil, which would make them disintegrate. Submerge the tamales in water for boiling, and they would probably come apart.
Such a great recipe! It was my first time making tamales ever and they turned out perfect. I used oil for the masa.
Made exactly as written, wouldn't change a thing. Delicious!
These are fantastic. I miscalculated, and bought a bone in pork roast, so I didn't have enough meat. I would suggest 2.5# would be better. The flavors are SO good, you wouldn't be sad to have extra meat. Next time I will mix my Masa in the Kitchen Aid, to try and incorporate more air. Will make again for sure.
Masa needs to be whipped for at least 10 minutes with a mixer. Otherwise the masa will be thick, grainy, and too dense. Masa is ready when a teaspoon size ball floats to the top when dropped in a glass of water. Husks need to be soaked for an hour minimum. Honestly, my Mexican friends soak for hours, some overnight. I start soaking before I start the filling. I spread the masa thinly. Like the tamale of my childhood. I use an offset spatula to spread the masa—faster than using a spoon.
Fantastic. Worth it to make the filling a day ahead, to let the flavors develop. So good.
We just made these for Christmas Eve. I'm trying to recreate the tamales my grandmother used to make. She did not have a written recipe. The meat is amazing and delicious. The spice is perfect. We doubled the amount of meat for the amount of masa, as we like our a masa thinner. We got 30 tamales from this recipe. The masa needed a lot more water/broth than was listed. At least another cup. It may depend on the masa you use. We will use this recipe again the next time we make tamales!
I was really looking forward to making this recipe but when I looked in my cupboard I found that I did not have Diamond brand kosher salt.
250 degrees is too, to, too an oven temp. At that setting it will probably take all day.
I don’t have a big pot or Dutch oven. Could I line them up in my slow cooker, add water, and cook on high until they’re done? Has any one tried this successfully?
All pantry items in place… for me we make them to steam Christmas Eve…. No meat on the eve… so we make them with crabmeat. Not correct I hear the groaning… but they rock…. Enjoy everyone…
My grandfather had a Mexican market in Ontario Ca. He made so much money selling masa during the holidays that the bank questioned the deposits. We worked in the store grinding corn for masa for days before Christmas with my uncles and cousins. Christmas Eve was our big tamales fest. My daughter is making tamales this year, fourth generation! And per the olives: my grandmother put just one, for the baby Jesus. Olives with the pit, “so you can chew on it.”
You can easily substitute chicken or beef instead of pork. Can also add a bit of broth to the masa. To check if masa is ready put a small amount n cold water, if it floats it’s ready!
Another vegan possibility besides Crisco is vegan butter.
I have done jackfruit and shortening as a sub for years. I’m sure the flavor isn’t identical but they are still delicious!
Hmmm. Where do I start. We make 20 dozen every Christmas from a recipe handed down from my grandmother from northern Mexico. We use chile pasilla or anchos. We cook the pork butt in salted water and garlic, then chop it up and fry it in a bit of lard, pork stock and cumin. The pork stock is added to the masa along with some of the cooked meat to give the masa more flavor and color. No onions or oregano. The cloves here might be a nice touch. I guess everyone's recipe is different but delicious.
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