I just love the aroma of roasting pork. My oven is full of pork fat, rendering on trays...

M

michael-in-phoenix

Well-known member
...at 275 degrees. I need the lard for tamales. Rendering your own lard really improves the flavor of the masa.

What a smell!

Working from home allows me to multi-task.

Michael

 
Mmmm - I'm going to render some to make lard caramels

I render it myself but I agree - this ethnic market carries it, almost all of the ethnic markets carry it except halal markets.

 
I use Rick Bayless' Red Chile Pork Tamale recipe, Click the link for the recipe.

The only thing I do differently is I use corn husks for wrappers instead of banana leaves.

I sometimes use banana leaves because I can get them frozen in mexican markets here, but I like the taste and aroma of corn husks better (and the 'look' is more authentic, I think).

The red chile pork filling is delicious! I have to stop myself from eating it with a spoon.

Michael

http://www.fronterakitchens.com/cooking/recipes/recipe_porktamales.html

 
Michael, I see this recipe calls for masa for tamales. Is that what you use? The only masa I've

seen here is the masa harina. Would it work? Fine Cooking has a tamale recipe in their December issue and it also calls for the masa for tamales.

On second thought, perhaps you can get the real deal there, fresh? Just curious, smileys/wink.gif.

 
Curious-look at the bags of the masa harina. They will say either "para tortillas" or

"para tamales". The tamale one is just not ground as finely. I never notice the different ones until this time of the year but they may have them all the time and I just don't notice. I imagine you can substitute but the texture would not be quite the same. Also, yes-in the southwest we can buy fresh masa. The grocery stores here around me have it all the time.

 
Yeah, same here. I use fresh masa and prepare it myself, adding the lard,...

...baking powder, salt, broth, etc.

I've never used masa harina.

Michael

 
Just for the record, you have to be careful when buying FRESH masa. There are two different kinds..

...available, usually.

One is just plain hydrated masa, where the ingredients are corn, water and traces of lime.

The other is "masa preparada", which is masa that already has the lard, baking powder, broth, etc., mixed in, and is ready to use in tamales. I don't buy this stuff, as I prefer to mix my own.

That's just my preference, but I'd hate to see someone get the masa preparada and not know it.

Michael

 
I found I still needed to add extra lard to the preparada to get it right...

If a pebble of dough doesn't float in a glass of cold water, my recipe says there isn't enough lard in it yet.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top