How to Make a Tamale

A lot of Southern Californians feel this way about tamales: If you’ve got a great place to buy them, why bother making them? Then there are the tamale snobs who can sniff out the store-bought ones as soon as they walk into a party. “You mean you didn’t make them yourself?” they say before they pile half a dozen on their plates.

In truth, few people make tamales completely from scratch. Most home tamale makers buy their fresh masa from a reliable tortilleria, and some buy their masa already blended with lard and ready to spread. Others use masa flour--the tamale equivalent of Bisquik--as a shortcut. There is some satisfaction, however, in starting with dried corn, blending it yourself with the slaked lime, then grinding the kernels into masa. What follows are instructions for every level of tamale maker.

BASIC TAMALE DOUGH

3 pounds fresh masa, preferably coarse-ground, or 4 1/2 cups masa harina

4 to 5 cups warm chicken or pork stock or water, if using masa harina

1 pound lard or vegetable shortening

2 1/2 tablespoons salt

If using fresh masa, set aside.

If using masa harina, place in large bowl and reconstitute by adding 4 cups warm stock. Beat with wooden spoon or mix with your hands until you have stiff, smooth dough, like medium-pliable bread dough. Use little more stock if necessary, but mixture should not be loose.

Place lard in large bowl and beat with heavy-duty electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy and fully aerated, about 3 minutes, or beat with bare hand using rapid folding motion until you feel lard lightening and it is fluffy and full of air. Lard should be light as whipped butter.

If using mixer, begin adding masa, 1 handful at a time. Stop to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as necessary. Or use bare hand as folding and whipping tool to beat in masa. If mixture becomes too stiff to beat, add up to 1 cup tepid stock, little at a time. When all masa is incorporated, mixture should be light and delicate, like butter cream frosting. Beat in salt.

Mixture is ready to be spread onto corn husks, banana leaves or other wrappers and steamed.

Makes about 8 cups dough, enough for 30 to 35 tamales.

Each 1/4-cup serving contains about:

158 calories; 651 mg sodium; 14 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0 fiber.

RED CHILE TAMALES (Tamales Con Chile Colorado)

These are the tamales most people associate with Christmas: messy with red chile and filled with pork. Each family’s recipe is slightly different; this one comes from Zarela Martinez’ “Food From My Heart.” The components--the sauce, the meat and the masa--can be used for several other dishes, so we’ve kept the recipes separate. Use some of the pork stock left from cooking the meat when you make the tamale dough to give it good flavor. If you’re doing everything in one long session, you should cook the pork first, then make the sauce, then the tamale dough. All can be made ahead of time at your own pace, then brought out when it’s time to assemble and steam the tamales.

1 pound dried corn husks

Basic Tamale Dough

2 cups Red Chile Sauce, cooled

3 cups shredded Cooked Pork Butt

Place corn husks in large, deep bowl, cover with boiling water and let soak 30 to 60 minutes.

Prepare Basic Tamal Dough as directed, then when masa is very light and fluffy, beat in 1/2 cup cooled Red Chile Sauce, mixing thoroughly to color dough evenly.

Place shredded Cooked Pork Butt and remaining Red Chile Sauce in mixing bowl and combine.

Drain corn husks and shake or pat dry. Stack husks in overlapping fashion, keeping larger husks in 1 stack and narrower pieces in another.

Place large husk flat on counter. Spread about 1/4 cup masa across lower (wide) end of husk with spatula or wide spoon, covering husk from side to side and extending about halfway toward narrow tip. Place about 1 tablespoon pork-chile mixture in center of masa.

Tamale may be rolled or folded in several ways. You can roll tamale roll lengthwise, then fold in half. Or fold right third over to center, then left third over to center, then fold narrow end of tamale even with wide end so tamale is folded roughly in half crosswise. Or place 1 heaping tablespoon masa, then filling, in center of husk, leaving edges clean, and fold right third to center, then left third to center, then fold each end to middle of tamale and secure with thin tie made of husk. Place tamales on baking sheet until ready to steam. (They can be refrigerated, covered with plastic wrap, up to 1 day or frozen up to 1 month.)

When ready to steam, place tamales vertically, open end up, in steamer with basket or steamer insert, or improvise steaming arrangement. Steamer may be lined with extra corn husks and corn husks may be placed on top of tamales to absorb steam. (Wet, wrung-out tea towel may be used instead of or in addition to husks.)

Pour 1 inch of boiling water in bottom of steamer (or pot if improvising). Cover tightly and bring quickly to full boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain gentle bubbling. Cook about 1 hour, replenishing with boiling water as necessary.

Remove steamer basket (or uncover pot) and let tamales stand 10 minutes before serving. Masa should pull away easily from husk when done.

Makes 30 to 35 tamales.

Each of 30 tamales contains about:

237 calories; 223 mg sodium; 19 mg cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.09 gram fiber.

COOKED PORK BUTT (Carne de Puerco Cocido)

2 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt, in one piece, trimmed of all but thin layer of fat

1 whole head garlic, unpeeled, cut crosswise in half

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

4 large bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Place pork butt in large Dutch oven or medium-size stock pot. Add garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt. Add enough cold water to cover by at least 3 inches. Bring to boil over high heat, quickly reduce heat to medium-low, then let simmer, partially covered, skimming any froth during first 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. Continue simmering until meat is well cooked but not dried out. Total cooking time should be 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove meat from stock and let cool to room temperature. When cool, pull meat into fine shreds. Strain and degrease stock. Store shredded meat in about 3 cups of stock, 1 cup stock per cup of meat, in refrigerator up to 2 days (up to 1 week if stock is not degreased). May also be frozen.

Makes 3 cups meat and 3 cups stock.

Each tablespoon meat contains about:

67 calories; 80 mg sodium; 17 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 0 carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.01 gram fiber.

RED CHILE SAUCE (Salsa de Chile Colorado)

6 ounces large medium-hot whole dried red chiles, either ancho, guajillo or Anaheim

2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican

3 cloves garlic, peeled

2 cups chicken or pork stock or water

2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

Heat griddle or heavy skillet over medium-high heat until drop of water sizzles on contact. Meanwhile, remove stems and seeds from chiles while rinsing them under cold running water. Place chiles on griddle and toast, 3 to 4 at a time, just until aroma is released (be careful not to scorch or sauce will taste bitter).

Place chiles in bowl and cover with boiling water. Let chiles soak until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain chiles and discard liquid.

Place chiles, oregano, 2 cloves garlic and stock in blender and process to smooth puree. Add more water if needed to process.

Work puree through medium-mesh sieve into bowl, pushing and scraping with wooden spoon to get as much puree as possible. Discard remaining solids.

Heat lard in heavy, medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat until lard is rippling. Add remaining clove garlic and brown in hot fat, pressing down with back of spoon to release flavor. Remove and discard garlic. Add flour to fat and cook, stirring constantly until golden. Add strained puree and salt, then reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring often, until raw taste is gone and chile flavor has mellowed, about 10 minutes. Can be stored, tightly covered, in refrigerator up to 1 week or frozen.

Makes about 2 cups.

Each 1-tablespoon serving contains about:

13 calories; 123 mg sodium; 1 mg cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.08 gram fiber.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Grind It Yourself

For the most ambitious tamale makers, here is Diana Kennedy’s method from “The Art of Mexican Cooking” for making fresh masa (masa refregada).

* Put 2 pounds dry white corn into stainless-steel or enamel pan. Add about 2 1/2 quarts cold water to cover and set over low heat.

* Dilute 5 teaspoons powdered slaked lime in 1 cup water.

* Strain through fine-mesh sieve, pressing out lumps, into corn. Stir well. Corn skins should turn bright yellow almost immediately. Increase heat to simmer and simmer about 20 minutes.

* Remove from heat, cover pan and set aside overnight, about 8 hours.

* Next morning, strain corn and cover with fresh water, rubbing corn through your hands to remove yellow skins. Strain again, cover with fresh water and repeat rubbing process. Repeat until skins are removed and corn is white. It may take 4 to 5 changes of water and about 30 minutes of rubbing.

* Drain well and grind corn into coarsely textured dough. Masa can be used immediately or frozen up to several months.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Masa Tips

Steam Trick

If you don’t have a tamale steamer, it’s easy to improvise. Zarela Martinez suggests arranging the tamales tepee-style leaning against a large ball of wadded aluminum foil in a Dutch oven or other large pot.

Martinez uses nothing to keep the tamales above the steaming water; instead, she places them directly on the bottom of the pot. As long as the corn husks are wrapped tightly, there should be no leakage. The water should come up only about an inch in the pot.

Some cooks line the pot with a layer of corn husks and use another layer to cover the tops of the tamales.

If you normally leave one end of the tamale open, be sure this end is up during steaming.

Of Coarse Masa

For most tamales, it’s better that the texture of the masa be coarse. This gives the tamale substance, a good bite. For tortillas, you want a more delicate texture, so a finer ground masa is typically used.

A Few Good East L.A. Tamale Sources

* Cinco Puntos. Carries prepared tamales and tamale ingredients. 3300 Cesar Chavez Ave. (at Indiana), Los Angeles. (213) 261-4084.

* Juanito’s Tamales. Prepared tamales and fresh masa by special request. 4214 E. Floral Drive, Los Angeles. (213) 268-2365.

* La Azteca Tortilleria. Prepared tamales, masa molida and masa preparada. 4538 Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles. (213) 262-5977.

* La Indiana Tamales. Prepared tamales. 1142 S. Indiana St., Los Angeles. (213) 262-4682.