I love the aroma of holidays in a home. Abuelitas and familia cooking up a storm all day while the men watch futbol or American Football. This is a memory I have right around this time of year. Nostalgic. Many people around the world have family holiday traditions and I want to share one of mine. Being half Mexican I grew up eating and helping make the best Christmas tamales. What is a Christmas tamale? A tamale is made with a corn husk or banana leaf and filled with maize and filling. Filling could consist of meat, cheese, legumes, or fruit. Whenever I mention tamales in front of my daughter Madison’s friends they say, “Mrs. Williams do you know why Mexicans make tamales for Christmas? So, they have something to unwrap”. Yes, I have heard this joke all my life. However, the truth about tamales is that they originated as early as 8000 to 5000 BC to help warriors have ready made meals that could be eaten fresh, cooked on a grill, steamed, or put over coals, or eaten cold.
Back to my family’s Christmas tamales, this tradition was not passed on to me by my mother who grew up in Mexico. It was passed on by my oldest sister Lupita. Lupita has always made the best tamales. Trust me! To this day I crown her the Tamale Queen of the World. She would make them throughout the month of December for families, friends, and my co-workers, and my boyfriend (now husband) co-workers. They are the stuff legends are made of. However, she moved to Orlando, Florida three years ago and let’s just say that the first Christmas without my sister’s tamales was quite traumatic for me. My first year of not having Christmas tamales was last year. I remember literally crying for hours after my husband tried to purchase every “best tamale” in our town. I ate tamales from practically every restaurant and store that year and would cry tears of sadness because they were not my sister’s tamales. Sounds drastic right? Well I was very depressed that first year because the realization hit that all my siblings moved out of El Paso and I would not have my Christmas tamales. Yeah, I am spoiled- it’s a last child syndrome. Anyhow that year I called my sister Lupita and cried to her and then cried to my brother-in-law and told them that I would not endure another Christmas like that. But this year Lupita came home to visit me during spring break and showed me how to make tamales with my nephew Isaiah. She probably didn’t want to hear me cry and get depressed this year because she knew she wouldn’t be able to visit me for the holidays. So, thanks to her I inherited the magical Christmas tamales recipe and tweaked it to make it my own. Our first batch of over 200 tamales were made with chile colorado and chile de arbol with pork. Let me just say that tamale making is a labor of love spread over a few days and you can’t just make like a dozen. It’s simply not worth it. In the past day our family made over 200 tamales and we still have masa left over and will probably make another 200 more.
Chile de Arbol & Chile Colorado Pork Tamales
Printable Version
Yield: Serves 60 Total Time: 12 hours
Ingredients:
– 2lbs of Chile Colorado
– 1 lb of Chile de Arbol
– 10lbs of Pork Butt
– 5 lbs of Masa for Tamales
– 1 ½ Box of Morrell Snow Cap Lard
– 1 ½ Teaspoons of Baking Powder
– 13 Teaspoons of Kosher Salt
– 3 Tablespoons of Cumin
– 3 Tablespoons of Kosher Salt (for Chile)
– 2 Heads of Garlic
– 3 Bay Leaves
– Corn Husks
– 1 Large White Onion
Equipment Needed:
– 2-3 People Minimum
– Blender
– Cutting Board
– Knife
– Winco Food Pan- Deep
– Winco Food Pan Steamer- to place on top
– 3 Large Pots
– Measuring Cup
– Measuring Spoon
– Large Glass Bowl/Glass Jar for Storing
– Wooden Spoon
– Aluminum Foil
– New Large Towel
– Dough scraper
Prep:
– Remove the tail/stems off the chile colorado and remove the seeds and set
aside
– Remove the tail/stems off the chile de arbol and remove the seeds and set aside
– Cut the end of a white onion and peel the outer shell
– Rinse the pork butt with cool water and pat with kosher salt
Directions:
Pork
– Place a large pot on the stove and turn the gas/electric knob to a medium setting and add 4 cups of water, 2 heads of garlic with shell on, 1 large white onion and 10lbs of pork butt and boil until the pork has softened and cooked (should take 3-4 hours depending on the size of the pot)
– Once the pork is cooked remove from the pot and place on a cutting board
– Remove the bone and discard
– Get 2 forks to shred the pork into pieces and set aside
Chile Colorado
– Place a large pot on the stove and turn the gas/electric knob to a medium setting
and add 2-3 cups of water, 8-10 pieces of peeled garlic, 1 lb. of destemmed and
seedless chile colorado, and boil until the chile has softened
– After the ingredients have boiled, set them aside to cool down
– Once the ingredients have cooled down pour them into a blender, add the
2 tablespoons of cumin and 2 tablespoons of kosher salt and liquefy (I use a
Vitamix blender and start on the low setting then set to high gradually to get a
nice clean blend, trying to achieve no pulp)
– After the chile colorado is liquefied set aside
Chile de Arbol
– Place a large pot on the stove and turn the gas/electric knob to a medium
setting and add 2-3 cups of water, 1 lb. of destemmed and seedless chile de
arbol and boil until the chile has softened
– After the ingredients have boiled, set them aside to cool down
– Once the ingredients have cooled down pour them into a blender and liquefy (I
use a Vitamix blender and start on the low setting then set to high gradually to
get a nice clean blend, trying to achieve no pulp)
– After the chile de arbol is liquefied set aside
Chile Colorado & Chile de Arbol Blend
– Pour 1 cup of chile de arbol into the chile colorado and stir with a wooden spoon
and then taste
– If the chile is not spicy keep adding a cup of chile de arbol into the chile colorado
and stir until it is suited to your taste
– Then add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, 1 tablespoon of cumin, 2 bay leaves and stir
with wooden spoon and taste and adjust the spices to your liking
– Set aside 2 cups of Chile Colorado & Chile de Arbol Blend for the masa
Chile Colorado & Chile de Arbol Pork Blend
– Place a large pot on the stove and turn the gas/electric knob to a medium
setting and add tablespoons of corn oil into the pot
– Pour the chile de colorado and chile de arbol blend into the pot and simmer
– Then add the shredded pork and stir and taste
– Adjust the spices to your liking
Corn Husks
– Sanitize your kitchen sink with Clorox and then rinse with cold water for 3-5
minutes to kill any germs
– Then place a sanitized and clean drain stopper into the sink and fill the sink with
hot water and place 1 lb. of corn husks into the hot water to soak
Masa
***If you live in a town with a Hispanic community I encourage you to find a local tortilleria and ask them if they make masa sin prepara for tamales. This is how our family gets our masa as it tend to be fresher for tamales.***
– Get 5 lbs. of masa (if using tortilleria masa make sure it’s sin prepara)
– Get a large food pan and pour the masa into it and add 1 gallon of water and mix
the masa and water together by hand or using a hand mixer until it is well mixed
(if using tortilleria masa skip this step)
– Then add 1 ½ boxes of Morrell Snow Cap Lard which should be 3 lbs. of lard, 1 ½
teaspoons of baking powder, 13 teaspoons of kosher salt and mix all the
ingredients with a hand mixer or by hand
– Add 1 cup of chile de arbol and chile colorado blend and mix into the masa until it
is smooth
***Testing the masa***
– Grab a cup and pour cold water into the cup
– Grab some masa and roll into a small ball shape and pour into the cold water
– If the masa floats it is ready for the tamales
– If the masa doesn’t float add ¼ cup more chile de arbol and chile colorado blend
into the masa mix and mix using a hand mixer or by hand until smooth and then
test again until the masa floats (repeat this process until the masa floats)
Chile de Arbol & Chile Colorado Pork Tamales
– After all the steps have been completed then bring in some family or friends to
help
– Get the corn husks and drain and set aside
– Create a work station with corn husks, masa, and chile de arbol & chile colorado
pork blend, dough scraper, and food pan steamer (see picture in blog)
– Get one corn husk and dough scraper and spread an even layer of masa onto half
of the corn husk leaf leaving the bottom half empty (see picture in blog)
– Then pass the corn husk with masa to the next person to fill with 1 ½ tablespoons of chile de arbol & chile colorado pork blend (depending on the size of the leaf-could add more or less)
– After the masa has been filled gently roll it tightly and fold the end of the husk upward
***Test the tamale***
This is a special trick that we learned in our family before we started rolling over 200 hundred tamales. It’s all about the taste. After you have rolled the first tamale get a damp paper towel and wrap it around the tamale and place in the microwave with a cover and cook it for 1 minute and 15 seconds. Then remove the tamale from the microwave and let it cool for 2 minutes. Remove the corn husk from the tamale and taste your tamale. We do this to ensure that the masa has enough salt or that the pork blend is seasoned to our liking. If it is not seasoned to your liking add the appropriate seasonings gradually to your masa and or pork blend and repeat this process until the tamale is suited to your taste. ***
– Then place the rolled tamales into the food pan steamer vertically and repeat this
process until the masa and pork blend is finished and the food pan steamer is full.
(should yield 60-80 tamales)
– Get the food pan pass and fill a little under half way with hot water and then place
the food pan steamer on top of the food pan
– Then get several corn husks and place on top and all around the tamales to
ensure a good double layer is covering the tamales
– Get a new clean large towel, rinse with hot water and wring it out, and cover
over the corn husk and food pan
– Get aluminum foil and cover the entire top of the pan with a double layer to
ensure no steam comes out
– Place the food pan onto the stove and turn the gas/electric knob to a high setting
and cook for exactly 1 hour and 10 minutes, any longer will dry them out.
– Then remove the aluminum, towel, and corn husks and let the tamales sit for 10-
15 minutes and serve
End
***** Season to suit your taste buds*****