Shanna's Pork Tamales Mole Sauce
1 x garlic head
1 lrg onion
3 lb pork leg or shoulder
Salt to taste
FILLING
2 oz dried California chiles - (abt 9)
2 oz dried New Mexico chiles - (abt 10)
3 tbl pumpkin seeds
3 tbl sesame seeds
1 lb tomatillos
Pork broth from preparing pork
1 lrg onion chopped
1 tbl oil
1 x garlic head cloves separated,
and peeled
Salt to taste
2 tbl ground cumin
Pork
MASA
2 lb prepared masa see * Note
1 1/2 tbl baking powder
Pork broth
1/2 cup lard melted
ASSEMBLY
1/2 lb hojas (corn husks)
Masa
Filling
Method :
* Note: Prepared masa with shortening added, for tamales, can be purchased at
Latino markets.
For the Pork: Cut off the top half of the head of garlic so that the cloves are
exposed. Quarter the onion. Cut the pork into 3-inch cubes.
Place the pork in a large pot with the bone, if there is one, along with the cut
head of garlic and the onion. Add salt to taste and enough water to cover. Bring
the water to boil and simmer the pork, covered, for at least 4 hours.
Refrigerate the pork overnight, covered. The next day, remove the fat, gristle
and the bone, and shred and save the cooked pork. Strain and save the broth to
make the mole sauce.
For the Filling: Simmer the California and New Mexico chiles in water for 10
minutes to soften them. (Beware the fumes from the cooking chiles.) Cool the
chiles. Remove and discard the stems, seeds and veins.
Toast the pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds in a skillet over medium heat until
golden, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove the papery skin from the tomatillos and simmer the tomatillos in the
reserved pork broth until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the tomatillos and set
aside, reserving the broth.
Cook the onion in the oil over medium heat until tender, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Set it aside.
In a blender, combine the seeded chiles, toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds,
tomatillos, onion, garlic, salt to taste, cumin and 2/3 cup reserved pork broth.
Blend together, then pour the mixture through a sieve, saving the liquid. Return
the solids to the blender, along with another 2/3 cup pork broth, and blend
again. Pour the mixture through the sieve again, discarding the solids and
placing the sauce in a saucepan. Simmer the mole sauce for 30 minutes. Combine
the sauce with the reserved shredded pork and set it aside to cool. The filling
should not be runny.
For the Masa: In the bowl of mixer, combine the masa with the baking powder,
about 3 tablespoons of pork broth and the melted lard to "lighten" the
masa. Beat together, then test the consistency by breaking off a small piece of
masa and trying to float it in water. It is not absolutely necessary that it
float, but a light, spongy consistency of the masa is critical to good tamales.
The masa can't be beaten too much.
For Assembly: Soak the hojas in hot water to soften, about 20 minutes. Sort out
the smaller pieces and discard. Drain the large hojas just before filling. Take
a large hoja and dry it with a paper towel. Hold the hoja in one hand and spread
about 2 tablespoons of masa over the hoja with the back of a spoon, or lay the
hoja flat on a table to spread the masa. Place about 2 tablespoons of the
pork-mole filling on the masa.
Fold over the hoja from the side. Now fold over the opposite side to seal the
masa. Fold up the bottom of the hoja. The tamale is ready for steaming. Repeat
the process with the remaining tamales. (The tamales may be frozen at this point
for steaming later.) If necessary the folded tamale may be tied with a strip of
hoja to hold it together.
Stand the tamales open-end up in a steamer. You may need to steam them in two
batches. Steam the tamales until the masa is cooked and firm, 35 to 45 minutes.
Repeat with the remaining tamales.
This recipe yields 36 tamales.