Secrets to Making Delicious Tamales. This short blog provides some general information on making tamales. If all you are interested in is a great recipe please go to the one for Tex- Mex Tamales. Until recently it was difficult for many in the United Stated to make really great tamales at home. This was because not everyone had access to the proper masa, which is similar to that used to make corn tortillas, but with a coarser grind. Home cooks usually either bought the masa prepared for tortillas from tortilla factories, or used the Masa Harina or Maseca corn flour for tortillas sold in grocery stores. Sometimes they would even combine ordinary cornmeal with mashed, canned hominy. If you cannot find it you will have to substitute the more easily found Maseca or Masa Harina corn flour for tortillas, which will do a satisfactory job. Be careful as the Maseca packages for corn tortillas and tamales are similar. Lard is really the only fat that should be used to make traditional savory tamales, as nothing properly imitates its flavor.
Farmacia products from Mexico (Mexican Pharmacy) at MexGrocer.com. Thank you for the article. I love corn tortillas and have turned to them as my . I have been reading lately that corn is also a. Skip the store bought! With just a few ingredients you can make your own homemade corn tortillas and tortilla chips! Ask and you shall receive! Combine all the flour, salt, vegetable oil, and water until it forms a dough. Roll the dough into a big ball and take about an 1 to 2 inch pieces off. We are proud to craft an innovative family of tortillas and wraps that are simply better. Made with fewer, better ingredients our products are the natural choice to. MexGrocer.com is an online Mexican grocery store for hard-to-find authentic Mexican food, Mexican Cheese, cooking utensils, Mexican food recipes, cooking tips. For those concerned about fat, remember that good lard actually has less saturated fat than butter. One of the best substitute in terms of texture is shortening, but some of it has large quantities of partially hydrogenated fat that nutrition experts believe to be more harmful to health than saturated fat. However, a major problem in this regard is that most supermarket lard also contains partially hydrogenated fat. If you cannot find pure lard at Hispanic groceries, you can make it yourself, following the instructions in the recipe for flour tortillas. When I cannot use pure lard I used to use butter, which makes delicious tamales. Recently, I have been using pure coconut oil, which also does an excellent job and makes tamales with a very special flavor. The most important elements involved in making tamales are to properly measure the lard, masa, and broth or water, to beat the fat until creamy, then to beat it with the masa and liquid until it is light and fluffy. Because measuring by volume can be both imprecise and messy, especially regarding the fat, it is advisable to use an electronic kitchen scale. Good models are available for $3. The beating can be done by hand or with a hand mixer. But the easiest method is to use a stand mixer, and this piece of equipment is specified in the recipe. If you wish to make tamales with a hand mixer or completely by hand, simply continue beating until the described results are obtained. After making the dough and filling, the tamales must be formed and wrapped. To make perfect tamales takes both skill and patience. Most tamales are wrapped in corn husks, but parchment paper or even cotton bed- sheet material can also be used. Dried husks in Mexico are usually sold whole, which means they have a nice, rounded pocket at one end that keeps the masa from escaping during cooking, and they taper to a point at the other. In the United States husks are usually cut by machine, which removes the pocket, leaving a flat side. This means that the tamales must be tied at the flat end and either folded over or tied at the tapered one. Special tamaleras are sold in Hispanic groceries for the purpose, but they are unnecessary, particularly for the relatively small quantity of tamales called for in the recipe. You can use a collapsable vegetable steamer fitted into a pot or any device that is perforated to allow steam to reach the tamales and that can be placed at least 2 inches above the 2 1/2 - 3 or so inches of water called for in the recipe. For example, a fryer basket placed upside down in a large pot works well to support another fryer basket into which you can put the tamales. The most important considerations are to keep the simmering water from actually touching the tamales, and to have a tight- fitting lid that keeps as much of the steam as possible from escaping. In order to avoid the mess that can occur if all the water evaporates, many cooks put a penny at the bottom of the steamer, so that its constant rattle will sound the alarm when the water begins to disappear. Which is Healthier: Corn Tortillas vs Flour Tortillas.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2017
Categories |