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Tamales Panamenños

Tamales from Panama made of corn dough wrapped in plantain leaves around a filling of chicken, pork, and sauce.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Tamales Panamenños

Time1 hour

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

  1. Soak the corn overnight in water.

  2. The next day, discard the water and replace with more fresh water, cook over moderate heat until the corn is tender.

  3. Drain and pass through the meat grinder.

  4. Add the hot water and the 2 Tbs. vegetable oil. Work well to obtain a smooth, soft dough.

  5. Cover and let rest while you prepare the filling.

Make the filling

  1. Heat the oil in large saucepan and add the achiote. Cook until all the color comes out, strain the oil and discard the achiote.

  2. Return the oil to the saucepan and cook the chicken pieces until golden brown.

  3. Take out the chicken from the saucepan and add the onions, garlic and bell peppers, cook until soft but not brown.

  4. Add the tomatoes, culantro, hot pepper, salt and wine.

  5. Add the chicken and the pork.

  6. Cook slowly until the meats are tender, correct the salt if necessary.

  7. Add part of this sauce (without the meats) to the corn dough and knead until soft.

  8. Keep the meats to the side.

Assemble and boil

  1. The plantain leaves are lightly passed over a slow fire, then cut off the middle vein and pass a damp cloth over each piece of leaf.

  2. Put 2 or 3 leaves overlapping each other and then place some corn dough in the center, spreading evenly. Place a heaping tablespoon of meat, a strip of pimento, a prune, and 1 or 2 olives and more corn dough on top.

  3. Now fold over and wrap well in the plantain leaf and tie with a string.

  4. Fill a pot with boiling water and put the tamales in to boil for 1 hour.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

735Calories
65 gProtein
33 gFat
41 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 14 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatnot in our table0
Annattonot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Pork + chickentop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,417 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,850 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  5. Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,090 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Corn kernels
Forms the starchy dough that wraps the filling and sets when cooked.
Pork meat
Becomes tender during slow cooking, adding richness to the filling.
Chicken
Browned first for color and flavor, then simmered until tender in the sauce.
Vegetable oil
Carries the achiote color and adds fat, keeping the dough soft and moist.
Achiote (annatto)
Releases a deep orange-red color and mild flavor into the oil.
Onions
Soften and sweeten as they cook, building the base of the sauce.

The step that matters

Working the dough into a smooth, soft dough. Corn dough must be fully hydrated and kneaded until smooth; under-worked dough stays crumbly and will not hold together when wrapped and boiled.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, pork, meat, chicken, pepper, onion, garlic):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, pork, meat, chicken, pepper, onion, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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