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Tamales
Rick A. Martínez
87 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
87
5 hours 45 minutes
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Make the sofrito: Place the chiles, bell peppers, onions, culantro, cilantro, garlic and pimentos in a blender and process until the mixture is fully puréed, scraping the sides of the blender as needed. Refrigerate until ready to use: This can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated.
Make the masa: Peel the bananas and plantains: Prepare a mixing bowl or large pot with water. Cut off the ends of the fruits, then use a knife to score and peel off the skin. Place the bananas in the bowl of water as you go so they don’t discolor. (The skins can stain, so be careful as you handle them, or wear plastic gloves.) Remove the skin of the yautia with a vegetable peeler and add it to the water.
Remove the bananas, plantains and yautia from the water and process until smooth: First, in a food processor fitted with the grating disc, shred each ingredient separately, dumping them into a large bowl as you go. Mix the ingredients together in the bowl, switch to the blade fitting, and process the mixture in batches until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the work bowl as necessary. The end result should look soft and fluffy like a purée. (Alternatively, you can grate everything by hand on the smallest holes of a box grater.) Transfer the masa to a large mixing bowl. At this point it can be refrigerated for a few hours, covered, while you prepare the pork, or frozen for up to 3 months.
Prepare the pork: Cut the pork into small, rough chunks about 1 inch long by ½ inch wide, trimming away excess tough fat as you go. Place the pork pieces in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Stir in the reserved sofrito, making sure all of the pork cubes are coated. Let the pork cook, stirring almost constantly, until it starts to release some liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the olive oil and let it cook for a minute or two, then stir in the seasoning packet.
Let the pork cook for another minute or two, then stir in the olives and their brine, the tomato sauce and the chicken stock or water, and a pinch of salt. Let the liquid come up to a simmer, then cover the pot and reduce the heat. Let the pork cook at a simmer for 30 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through, stirring occasionally. There should be plenty of liquid in the pot at all times, so the mixture looks like soup, not stew. If it looks dry, add stock or water as needed.
While the pork cooks, make the annatto oil: In a small saucepan, heat the oil and the annatto seeds over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the oil begins to bubble. Lower the heat slightly and let the seeds cook in the oil until the liquid turns a bright pink-red. Turn off the heat and let the seeds sit in the oil until it cools. Strain the oil through a sieve or slotted spoon into a small mixing bowl, discarding the seeds. Set the bowl aside. (If the liquid does not immediately begin to turn red, your annatto seeds are too old.)
When the pork is done, taste for seasoning, and add more salt if desired, then turn off the heat. Take 2 to 3 cups of the liquid from the pork and stir it into the masa until it is the consistency of thick oatmeal, soft but spreadable. You will still need about 2 to 3 cups of liquid to make the pasteles, so if your pot looks dry at this point, stir in a little water or stock so that you still have plenty of liquid, and taste for seasoning again.
On a large, clean work surface, set up your pastel-making station: You will need the banana leaves, parchment paper, string, the annatto oil, the pork and its liquid, and the masa. To make each pastel, start with a piece of parchment paper in front of you, one long side closest to you. Use a soup spoon or a pastry brush to paint a very thin smear of annatto oil on the parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch border on the top and bottom and 4 inches on the sides. (This does not have to be perfect: It’s just to keep the banana leaf from sticking.) Lay the banana leaf down on top of the oil, long side closest to you. Paint the banana leaf very lightly with the annatto oil. Spread ½ cup of masa on top of the banana leaf about ¾ to ½ inch thick. The masa does not have to be a perfect shape: It can overlap the leaf in places and does not have to cover it completely.
Spoon a scant ¼ cup of pork pieces along the length of the masa in a straight line. Your goal is really a line of pork chunks along the center of the masa, so that each bite of pastel has a bite of pork. Add 2 olives to the masa, one near each end. Use a spoon to drizzle on a little more liquid as needed so that most of the masa is covered by a very thin layer of liquid. Don’t overdo it: About a tablespoon or so of liquid per pastel is about right.
To form the pastel, fold the parchment paper in half, from the bottom up, over the masa and filling so the 2 long edges meet. Fold those edges down to meet the edge of the pastel farthest from you. Press the paper down and crease the top edge. Fold the parchment in half again lengthwise from the top down, so it covers the pastel. You now have a long thin pastel wrapped in a tube of parchment, with multiple layers of paper on top. (This needn't be exact, as long as the paper forms a neat little package.)
Working carefully, use the side of your hand to press and slide the masa on either side of the package into the center to give it a neat edge. Fold in 1 inch of the paper on the left and right sides to create small hems. Then fold both sides over the pastel. (If you have a few leaks, it’s O.K.)
Set this pastel aside, flaps facing downward, while you make its partner: Repeat the process above to make a second pastel.
When you have 2 pasteles, stack them together so they line up, flaps facing inward. Use 1 piece of string to tie the pasteles together the same way you would a package, looping the string once across the long way and at least once across the short way. Make sure the string is tight and the pasteles are tightly tied together. Repeat this process with the remaining pairs of pasteles. At this point they can be frozen for several months, refrigerated for a day or two, or cooked and eaten immediately.
To cook them, bring a large pot (or a few pots) of salted water to a boil and add the pasteles, either fresh or frozen, in a single layer. Let cook for 1 hour, or an hour and 10 minutes or so if they are frozen. Repeat with the remaining pasteles, then unwrap and serve right away.
Everyone has their version of sofrito. I use cubanelles instead of green bell peppers and add cumin. I also add more onion and saute the onions and peppers first before adding. As for the masa, food processor fraught with problems, leaving little tiny lumps of banana. Hand grating is best, though a real ordeal unless you have ten relatives and a bottle of rum
I substitute a sweet red pepper for the ajie dulce, which are getting very hard to find. Don't make the mistake of purchasing scotch bonnet peppers which look similar but are a bit larger and have way too much heat. My mom would also add some chunks of calabaza (pumpkin) to the masa to soften it, and sometimes a potato.
Note to the author/editor: in the fourth paragraph of text preceding the recipe, the author states that peeled taro root is the same as cassava. It most certainly is not, as the author herself makes clear in the preceding paragraph. Other words for cassava are 'yuca' or 'manioc' but certainly not taro, which is something very different. 'Dasheen' and 'eddo' are other names for taro.
No seasoning for the masa? We always add aceite de achiote, salt, evaporated milk, and some of the broth from the cooked pork.
I make vegetarian versions using primarily chick peas, sometimes tempeh or seitan to substitute the pork. While living out side of NY, I once resorted to using corn husks used for tamales and the results were pretty good. I enjoy approaching the project like a jazz composition.
You can get frozen banana leaves in stores that sell Caribbean or Mexican products
Culantro is called sawtooth coriander and can be found in Asian markets. It is also used in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. I found it here in Maryland at China Wall market. Ajices are impossible to find here, so I've resorted to ordering them from Puerto Rican markets in Chicago.
I am confused by the recipe calling for "one 10-ounce jar of olives" and then indicating that each of the 36 pasteles should have two olives in it. I am staring at my 10-ounce jar, in which there are most certainly not 72 olives. Are we supposed to cut the olives into 72 pieces?
asian grocery stores also have them sometimes - Also - you can look for packages of Goya banana leaves in the freezer section. There have been years where I have been living in places where banana leaves were definitely not available - you can substitute aluminum foil in an absolute pinch. Just make sure to use enough oil before placing the masa on it.
Making pasteles is an art form learned from Puerto Rican women. The masa needs a great deal of attention to have the pastel come out flavorful and soft. For flavor one needs to add the ingredients found in adobo “to taste” as well as puréed sofrito also ‘to taste’. The consistency of masa according to my mother requires that a large spoon should fall over somewhat slowly when inserted into a large pan of prepared masa at least 2 inches deep. Added milk helps achieve this effect. So much more…
I have over 30 of these in my freezer right now. This recipe, (made in the Bronx) may be what I will wish for my last meal.
Well worth the work and love that goes into the preparation. Please Enjoy!!!!
anyone have a vegan/vegetarian version? thinking of doing peppers, onions, olives, tomato sauce, and maybe peas.
Yes…use stewed gandules and chickpeasas a filling and as source of liquid for masa. Also you can just use the masa with no filling…these are referred to as “pasteles ciegos” or “ blind pasteles”.
My grandmother would have separate little bowls of diced ham, canned chickpeas, strips of roasted red peppers from a jar, dark raisins, and spanish stuffed olives cut in half the short way. Then after she spread the massa on the paper and added some of the pork stew she would place half an olive on each half of the pastel then repeat with the chickpeas, pieces of ham, stipes of pimentos, and a few raising along the length. So, every couple of bites you got a little flavor treat and texture.
I used this mainly for the proportions as I used to watch and assist my mother making them all through my childhood. It really helped. I adjusted some of the items as I suffer from nightshade allergies. They came out perfect and equal to my Mom's. I can't wait for her to try them. Thank you!
You can get pasteles paper and banana leaves online if you don't have a Caribbean supermarket.
Another name used for tarot is yautia.
I am confused by the recipe calling for "one 10-ounce jar of olives" and then indicating that each of the 36 pasteles should have two olives in it. I am staring at my 10-ounce jar, in which there are most certainly not 72 olives. Are we supposed to cut the olives into 72 pieces?
After reading the ingredients list, I have to say that a 10oz jar of olive is way not necessary. The stew should be close in taste to any red sauce stew you would have for dinner. At the most 10 pitted and stuffed olive would do the trick and I would halve them, so they show up don't overpower any single bite of stew. I guess using the brine is a substite for adding salt. That many olives are a personal choice butnot traditional at all.
We have always used small pimento stuffed Spanish olives and cut them in half the short way. One piece on each side of the massa is plenty. See my comment on what other treats can be added to the pastel when forming it . The two or three raisins we add never make the pastel sweet just adds a savory sweet highlight to that bite.
No seasoning for the masa? We always add aceite de achiote, salt, evaporated milk, and some of the broth from the cooked pork.
Culantro is called sawtooth coriander and can be found in Asian markets. It is also used in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. I found it here in Maryland at China Wall market. Ajices are impossible to find here, so I've resorted to ordering them from Puerto Rican markets in Chicago.
I make vegetarian versions using primarily chick peas, sometimes tempeh or seitan to substitute the pork. While living out side of NY, I once resorted to using corn husks used for tamales and the results were pretty good. I enjoy approaching the project like a jazz composition.
Everyone has their version of sofrito. I use cubanelles instead of green bell peppers and add cumin. I also add more onion and saute the onions and peppers first before adding. As for the masa, food processor fraught with problems, leaving little tiny lumps of banana. Hand grating is best, though a real ordeal unless you have ten relatives and a bottle of rum
Note to the author/editor: in the fourth paragraph of text preceding the recipe, the author states that peeled taro root is the same as cassava. It most certainly is not, as the author herself makes clear in the preceding paragraph. Other words for cassava are 'yuca' or 'manioc' but certainly not taro, which is something very different. 'Dasheen' and 'eddo' are other names for taro.
Dasheen and eddoes are two different tubers as well. Very different consistency, size and taste. The leaves look almost the same, but the roots which are the parts in question for this recipe, are quite different. They both seem to be known as taro though.
Any substitute for banana leaves? I think I can find most everything else but them.
You can get frozen banana leaves in stores that sell Caribbean or Mexican products
asian grocery stores also have them sometimes - Also - you can look for packages of Goya banana leaves in the freezer section. There have been years where I have been living in places where banana leaves were definitely not available - you can substitute aluminum foil in an absolute pinch. Just make sure to use enough oil before placing the masa on it.
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