Those red pork tamales are filled with a delicious red chili mixture made with pork, Mexican chilies and spices. Serve with your favorite drink and enjoy for breakfast or dinner.
Place corn huks in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Allow to soak for at least 30 minutes (read note 1).
Cook the meat
Place the meat into a pot and cover with plenty of water. Add garlic, bay leaves and salt.
Bring to a boil and cook until the meat is very tender and you’ll end with about 3-4 cups of cooking water.
Place the meat into a bowl and shred it using two forks when the meat is still hot or let it cool and use your hands. Set aside.
Make the sauce
Clean the chilies, if you don’t want the sauce to be hot cut them and discard the seeds and veins.
Place chilies into a bowl and cover with hot water leaving them to soak for at least 20 minutes.
Place chilies in a blender, add tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin and salt.
Add 2 cups of the meat cooking water and blend for 4 minutes on high until you will have a smooth sauce.
Reserve 1 ½ cups of the sauce and set aside.
Make the filling
In a medium pan heat 1 tablespoon of pork lard over medium heat. Add the sauce and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the meat, mix well and simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Adjust salt to taste and allow to the mixture to cool down.
Make the tamales dough
Place Masa Harina in a large bowl and add salt. Pour the sauce you reserved before and start mixing adding some cooking water until you achieve a smooth dough.
Melt the pork lard and let it cool slightly. Add lard to the dough and knead until combined. Taste the dough and adjust salt if needed.
Make tamales
Drain the corn husks and pat them dry with a kitchen towel. Make some strips by tearing 2-3 husks.
Place 2 spoonfuls of tamales dough in the middle of a husk and spread it a little bit (read note 2).
Using the same spoon, make a small hole in the middle and spoon in the pork mixture.
Carefully fold the husk to cover completely the filling and end with some sort of burrito.
With the corn husk strips you made before, tie both sides of the tamal and then tie in the middle (read note 3).
Steam
Prepare a large stockpot with a steamer basket. Fill the pot with water just before it touches the basket and place pork tamales in layers.
Bring the water to a boil, cover the pot and cook the tamales for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, checking occasionally and adding more water when is needed.
Notes
Wrappers: You can also use parchment paper for wrapping tamales. Cut 16 rectangles about 8×6 inch (20x15cm) and set aside.
No Flat Tamales: This recipe is for “fat” cylindric tamales, not the flat version you might have seen everywhere. So make sure you don’t spread the masa all over the husks but only a bit in the middle.
Parchment paper: If you’re using parchment paper you won’t need to tie the tamales, instead, you’ll have to fold them. So, spread the dough, add filling and then fold both sides toward the center.
Store: Red pork tamales leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3 days or you can also freeze them for up to 3 months and then defrost them before consuming.
Reheat: To reheat them you can unwrap them and pop them into the microwave for a couple of minutes or fry them with a little bit of oil on a frying pan. Another option is simply reheating them in a steamer with the husks on.
Masa Harina or Corn Masa: I use masa harina because I can’t find fresh corn masa here, but the recipe can be adapted and use fresh corn masa instead. Just make sure to add less liquids to the dough.