Oaxacan Style Tamales wrapped in Banana Leaves

A few weeks ago, I finally had a few friends over for "comida" out on my patio over the weekend.  The weather was perfect.  I decided to have a Mexican themed dinner party and earlier in the week I made Oaxacan Style Tamales, Chicken tamales with Coloradito Mole wrapped in Banana Leaves.

Anyone who has made tamales before, you know it is very time consuming, especially when you don't have a pair of helping hands in the kitchen!  So I decided to make my life easier...  I had received an email from Christopher Kimball's Milk Street on line store advertising the Mole pictured above.  The ingredients looked really delicious and so I ordered two jars.  I also went a step further, I stopped at Costco and picked up one of their rotisserie chickens.  They really are the best, full of meat and very moist.  

My biggest pet peeve is a tamale that has a skimpy filling and ones that have way too much masa and that the masa is dry.  Bob's Red Mill really makes great products and I used their Masa Harina.  Make sure you check the freshness date, masa seems not to have the longest shelf life.

 

You can go to your local Mexican grocery store and ask the butcher for fresh pork lard, manteca or buy it in solid form at the grocery store.

Earlier in the week I also stopped at one of my favorite Asian markets and bought two packets of banana leaves (found in the freezer section).  

For the Filling:

1 Roasted chicken (approximately 3 lbs.) - take meat of the bones and roughly shred, 2 lbs.

1/2 jar of the Coloradito Mole (about 9 0z.) 

1 can chicken stock (also to be used in the masa preparation)

In a large bowl, using the back of a fork, incorporate 1/2 cup of the chicken stock into the mole to make it more like a paste.  Add the shredded chicken and toss well.  More mole can be added for a stronger, richer flavor.

For the Masa Mixture:

1 1/3 cup pork lard - manteca (if you have bought it fresh, you will want to whip it until it is   lighter in color and doubled in volume)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 cups dried masa harina, mixed well with 2 1/4 cups of hot water to reconstitute

2  one-pound packages of banana leaves, defrosted.  (One packet may be adequate, but they are only a few dollars a packet and some may have cracks and splits in them.  Plus, they are great for wrapping a pork roast in when you want to doing some braising)

With the mixer on medium-high speed, beat the manteca with the baking soda and salt until light and airy.  Gradually add the reconstituted masa harina and mix well.  Reduce to medium-low speed and add 1 cup of the chicken stock.  Continue beating.  To ensure that you will have light and tender tamales, drop a teaspoon of the masa mixture into a cup of cold water, if it floats, it's perfect.  Beat in the last of the chicken stock (1/2 cup) or more if needed, until the batter is the consistency of soft cake batter.  For an extremely light masa mixture, refrigerate for an hour and then beat to a smooth consistency.  *taste and add more salt if needed.

Note:  A good rule of thumb: the ratio of lard beaten into prepared masa is 1 to 3, preferable by weight.

Makes:  16 tamales.  When serving with other side dishes, one tamale seems to be adequate but they are SO good, have a few extra in case someone wants seconds.

While the masa mixture is in the refrigerator, you will want to briefly run the banana leaves over an open flame on your gas burner until soft and glossy.  Cut off the one hard side of the leave, this is where the leaves were attached to the center vein.  Cut the leaves into 10" to 12" segments, avoiding any areas that are torn or have holes in them.   If the leaves split open while preparing, patch with a section of another leaf.

Cut a gallon zip-loc in half and use the one sheet in preparing the tamales.  With the shiny side of the banana leaf up, put 1/3 cup of the masa mixture on the leaf.  Place the zip-loc sheet on top of the masa and spread it out using the back of a soup (tablespoon) spoon.  Spreading it not all the way to the edges.  Remove the sheet of plastic.

Spoon about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture onto the masa as shown.  

 Close each tamale by folding the sides like folding a letter.

Then fold the top and bottom together, barely overlapping in the center.  Many more experienced tamale makers use the rib of the banana leaves to tie the bundles up.  Sometimes it is easy, sometimes they break.  So after all this work, I chose to tie them up with kitchen string.  Enough is enough...

At this point, the filled tamales may be refrigerated overnight or steamed and refrigerated.  The filling and the prepared masa can be made several days in advance and refrigerated too.  For all the work it takes into making tamales, I double the recipe so after I steam them, I can freeze them for a later date.  Just defrost thetamales in the refrigerator overnight before re-steaming. 

To Steam:

Not all of us have a tamale steamer.... I have a big pot that one uses for canning.  I haven't canned for years and I use it it to steam crab legs!  But a large pot that you boil pasta in works just as well.  Add a few inches of water into the pot.  With the wire basket or a large steamer in the bottom of the pot, place a few layers of the banana leaves over the basket with some of the leaves running slightly up the sides.  Stand the tamales up in the pot, folded side down.  Cover with extra leaves or scraps.  Cover with a lid.

Steam over medium-low heat for 45 to 55 minutes.  Tamales are done when the interior of the leaf has lost is bright green color and the leaf easily peels away from the masa.  Remove from the heat, uncover, and let rest for a few minutes before serving.

*prior to steaming, many suggest putting a quarter in the bottom of the pot.  If you hear it rattling, you know you will need to add more boiling water.

The filling was just sublime and the masa so moist and tender.  Next time I am enlisting my husband and we are going to make a bigger batch.

Buen Provecho!