Red Chile Chicken Tamales Recipes

RED CHICKEN TAMALES (TAMALES ROJOS DE POLLO)

Steps:

• Place corn husks in a bowl, cover with boiling water, and soak for a few hours. Drain, place on a work surface, and cover with a clean, damp towel.
• Place chicken in a pot, season with salt, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain chicken and shred with 2 forks.
• Heat a griddle over medium heat and toast ancho and mulato chiles until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak until soft, about 25 minutes. Combine ancho and mulato chiles, garlic, cumin seeds, and about 1/2 cup of the soaking water in a blender; blend until a thick, smooth, mole-like sauce forms, adding more water if necessary.
• Heat 1 tablespoon lard in a saucepan over medium heat and add the sauce; cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add shredded chicken and cook until flavors are combined and chicken is heated through, about 5 minutes.
• Place remaining lard in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Add masa harina, chicken broth, baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, and beat until all ingredients are well combined. Test if the masa is ready by dropping a small ball of masa into a glass of cold water; if it floats, it's ready, if not, keep working the dough a little longer.
• Select 1 wide corn husk. Spread about 2 tablespoons masa mixture onto the the corn husk, filling it up to 2 inches from the bottom and 1/4 inch from the top. Add 1 tablespoon of the chicken filling in the center of the masa mixture. Fold sides of husk together, one over the other. Fold the bottom of the husk over the seam of the 2 folded sides. Repeat with remaining husks.
• Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add tamales with the open side up and cook until filling is heated through and separates from the husk, about 1 hour. Let tamales rest for 15 minutes before serving.

FRIED ORGANIC CHICKEN TAMALES WITH RED CHILE AND COTIJA

Steps:

• For the chicken: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place chicken on a half-sheet tray. Sprinkle all over with salt and pepper, then place skin-side up. Roast until cooked through, about 40 minutes. Let cool. Pull off skin and remove meat from bone. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• For the masa: Put masa in a bowl and add duck fat, plus a fat pinch each of salt and pepper. Mix until integrated. Add 1/2 cup water to help make a smooth, pliable mass, which will be easy to spread. Set aside.
• For the chile verde: Place tomatillos, garlic, cilantro, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper in a medium saucepot and add enough water to cover. Place pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook until tomatillos are soft and color deepens, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Pull ingredients from water and place in a blender. (Some liquid is fine.) Blend until smooth and season to taste.
• Return chile verde to the same saucepan and add the pulled chicken. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• For the fried chicken tamale: Place a corn husk in the palm of your hand. It should just cover your hand; trim down if necessary so not overly large. Place a wooden kitchen spoonful of masa (approximately 6 tablespoons) in center of husk. Smooth masa to the edges of the husk using back of spoon. Place 4 tablespoons chicken chile verde mixture in middle of masa. Put tamale on a counter and fold in both long sides, then tuck in bottom and top of husk to form a neat package. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
• Using a steam pot or hotel pan with perforated insert, fill pot with water to bottom of perforated insert. Place a layer of tamales in the insert, being careful not to crowd or stack them. Cover pot with a lid or aluminum foil. Allow the pan to steam over medium-high heat and cook tamales for about 35 minutes. Let tamales cool.
• Warm Red Chile Sauce in a saucepan over medium heat.
• Preheat duck fat in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.
• Remove husk from a tamale. Place in fryer basket and cook until exterior of tamale is crispy, about 3 minutes. Smear 1 ounce Red Chile Sauce on bottom of a plate. Place tamale in center and garnish with Cotija. Serve hot. Repeat with remaining tamales.
• Remove stems from chile pods and shake out seeds. Place chiles in a medium saucepan along with garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Strain and discard excess water to help remove bitterness. Place remaining contents in a blender and puree until smooth.

RED CHILE TAMALES

Steps:

• In a mixer or by hand, combine masa, lard, salt and baking powder until well blended.
• Deseed the chile pods, then soak the pods in hot water until soft.
• Puree the soft chile pods.
• Boil roast with salt, pepper and garlic until beef is cooked through.
• Remove beef; shred.
• Reserve the beef broth.
• Mix red chile puree with shredded beef.
• Add reserved beef broth until moist.
• Spread masa in a corn husk.
• Place about 1 1/2 ounces beef in the center of the masa.
• Fold over sides of tamale, then wrap tamale in wax paper.
• Place tamales in steamer pot, cover and cook 45 minutes or until the tamales are firm.

TAMALES DE CHILE ROJO (RED CHILE TAMALES WITH MEAT)

Steps:

• Sort through the husks to get 20 large ones and place in a large bowl, along with 10 additional smaller husks. Add enough boiling water to cover and weigh down with a plate to soak until softened, at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. Drain and wipe dry.
• Mix the harina de maíz nixtamalizado azul and baking powder in a large bowl and gradually add 1 1/2 cups broth while mixing and kneading with your hands. Add the remaining broth as needed to achieve a smooth dough that feels neither moist nor dry. It shouldn't stick to your fingers but should hold together in a single mass.
• Beat the vegetable shortening in a large bowl by hand or with an electric stand or handheld mixer on medium-high speed until it becomes very smooth and brighter in color, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the salt until incorporated. Add the masa by the handful and beat, on low speed if using an electric mixer, until evenly incorporated. Beat on medium-high speed, scraping the bowl occasionally, until fluffy, about 5 minutes. The mixture should be the texture of buttercream. To see if the dough is ready, fill a small cup with water and drop in a 1/4 teaspoon dough. It should immediately rise and float.
• To assemble the tamales: Place a large corn husk on your work surface or in your hand. Using the back of a spoon or a small palette knife, spread about 1/3 cup masa (2 ounces) in a rectangle (about 5- by 6-inches) in the center, leaving a few inches empty on the long sides. Add 3 tablespoons meat filling (2 ounces) in a line down the center of the masa. Wrap the tamal: Hold the long sides of the husk and bring them together, so the masa meets in the center and encloses the filling, then fold those sides of the husk together over and around the enclosed filling. Fold the pointed end over the tamal to secure and place on a sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, stacking the folded tamales on the pan.
• To steam the tamales: Place a few coins in the bottom of a tamalera or other deep steamer pot and add enough water to come to the bottom of the steamer insert and no higher so the water won't touch the tamales. The coins will stop clattering if your water runs low and let you know that you need to replenish with more hot water. Arrange the tamales upright in the steamer, open-side up, leaving a space in the center. The tamales should be touching. Cover the tops with the remaining corn husks, then cover the steamer with the lid. Bring the water to a boil and steam for 1 hour, pouring in more water through the empty center as needed.
• To test for doneness, remove one tamal, unwrap and cut through the center. There should be no raw masa remaining, and the tamal should peel away easily from the husk as you unwrap it. If not, continue steaming, checking for doneness every 15 minutes. When cooked, remove from the heat and let stand in the steamer for 15 minutes before serving. The tamales can be kept warm in the steamer off heat for up to an hour. Steamed tamales can be cooled completely, wrapped tightly, and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then steam again in husks or unwrap and pan-fry until heated through, about 15 minutes.