Smoked Red Chili & Pork Tamales

Filling:

 2 Pounds Pork Shoulder, cut into 3” cubes plus bones if available

4 Ounces Whole Dried Chilis, Pasilla, Guajillo, New Mexico or Ancho

1 White Onion, peeled and quartered

6 Cloves Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin

1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano

1 Teaspoon Black Pepper, preferably freshly ground

1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt

5 Tomatoes, roughly chopped, or 1 28 Ounce Can Diced

Vegetable Oil Hot water

40 Dried Corn Husks

Directions:


Briefly toast the peppers in a braising pan (large enough to hold all ingredients) on the stovetop over medium heat until they start to smoke and their flavor is released turning to prevent burning.  If your peppers start out dark and somewhat dry (as my Pasillas did) they will require less time in the pan.  Turn the fan on to prevent your kitchen from filling up with smoke. Remove from pan and cool.

Turn the heat up to medium-high.  Add 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil to the pan.  Add the meat (and bones if available), brown on all sides.  Set pan aside. (Don’t worry if you don’t have any bones. I only add them if I have them. The marrow can add flavor but it will be delicious without as well.) Wearing gloves, tear tops off chilis and remove seeds.  Tear into 2-3 inch pieces. Put the pan back on the stove over medium-high.  Add all ingredients.  Stir. Add water until it reaches half way up the meat.  Turn to medium-low and simmer until very tender – about 2 hours. 

Remove meat to a cutting board to cool.  Discard bones. Remove pan from heat and set aside.  Shred the meat when it is cool enough to handle.

Soak the corn husks, submerged in hot water, in a large pot for 30 minutes. Masa 4 cups masa harina 3 cups vegetable broth 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 teaspoon salt This recipe will make enough dough for roughly four dozen tamales. That's generally the minimum I make at a time. If you want to make fewer, you can easily half this recipe. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl to create a dough that's sort of the same texture as cookie dough.

Assembling the Tamales For each tamale, you'll need two pieces of corn husk. Layer them on top of each other, so the narrow ends are going in opposite directions. Put about two tablespoons of dough onto the top layer of corn husk, and smash it flat. Add a tablespoon of filling down the center of the dough. Pull the sides of the top corn husk together, to sort of roll the dough over the filling. Wrap the edges around each other, and place the husk seam side down on the second husk. Roll the second husk around the first, creating a tube with the filling at the center. Tie the ends of the husks with string or strips of corn husk.

Place a steamer into a large pot of water. Bring the water to boil. Place the tamales in the steamer, and steam for half an hour. The dough will be more solid, but not Hard.