Recipes

Tamales

Enrique Olvera|

Tamales
3 (2 ratings)
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Famed chef, Enrique Olvera, gives tamales, a classic Mexican street food an update with fresh herbs, spices, and three delicious fillings: cochinita pibil, green salsa chicken, and goat cheese and red salsa.Adapted from Mexico from the Inside Out by Enrique Olvera.
Servings
4
Tamales
Ingredients
  • 3 cup corn dough, see notes
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup lard
  • 1/4 cup achiote paste
  • 1/4 cup bitter orange juice
  • 1/4 cup fresh key lime juice
  • 1/4 cup lard
  • 1/4 red onion
  • 1 allspice berry
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried ground yucatan oregano
  • 3 teaspoon white cane vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 banana leaves, gently roasted over direct fire
  • 19 ounce suckling pig
  • 1 1/2 cup tomatillos
  • 1/4 white onion
  • 1 chile serrano
  • 2 sprigs cilantro (coriander)
  • 2 sprigs epazote
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast
  • 1 tablespoon corn oil
  • 3 plum tomatoes
  • 1/4 white onion
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • 1 chile morita
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup fresh goat cheese
Directions
  1. In a bowl, knead the dough with the water and salt until combined. Cream the lard with an electric mixer and fold in the dough until combined and smooth.
  2. In a bowl, blend the first 10 ingredients together. Line a baking sheet with one banana leaf. Top with the suckling pig leg and coat it with the achiote adobo. Cover with the other banana leaf and roast in a 340 degrees F oven for 2 hours. Remove from the oven, remove the top banana leaf, and pull the meat apart.
  3. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Adjust the salt and refrigerate.
  4. Place all the ingredients, except the chicken and 1 tablespoon corn oil, in a pan and cook over medium heat for 25 minutes. Blend and adjust the salt.
  5. Cut the chicken breast into 4 pieces. Sear in the oil in a pan over high heat. Add the green salsa and cook over a low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the heat.
  6. Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and chile on a baking sheet and roast in a 425 degrees F oven for 15 minutes. Blend and adjust the salt. Crumble the cheese into large pieces and mix into the salsa.
  7. To assemble the Tamales: Cut the banana leaves into 12 x 18-inch rectangles. Char each leaf over direct flame for 5 seconds. Place ¼ cup the tamal dough in the center of 4 leaves, then divide the cochinita pibil filling among the leaves. First fold over the sides of each leaf, and then fold over the top and bottom, to make an envelope. Set aside. Repeat with the remaining leaves, dough, and the green salsa chicken and the goat cheese and red salsa fillings. Pour 2 cups water into a tamal steamer and add the salt. Cover the steamer rack with a banana leaf and arrange the tamales on it. Cover and steam the tamales over medium heat for 50 minutes.
 
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