Tamales
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the corn
Soak the prepared corn overnight in water.
Rinse the corn and remove any black points.
Grind the corn using a mortar or metate.
Make the dough
Mix the ground corn with warm water and salt, then gradually add melted lard.
Beat the mixture until a small ball floats in water.
Assemble and steam
Place a generous spoonful of dough on each corn husk.
Add guiso on top, tie up the husk, and steam for about 4 hours.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Prepared corn
- Provides the starch that forms the body of the masa dough.
- Melted lard
- Adds fat that makes the dough tender and moist when steamed.
- Warm water
- Hydrates the ground corn so it forms a workable, spreadable dough.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture until a small ball floats in water. Beating incorporates air and hydrates the dough evenly. A floating test shows enough air and proper consistency, so the tamales will be light rather than dense after steaming.
“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.
More tamales recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.