In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re resharing one of our favorite recipes from House in the Pines author Ana Reyes!
HILDA’S GUATEMALAN TAMALES
Savory and decadent, these tamales aren’t an everyday food but a once-a-year tradition. In my family, tamales are to Christmas what turkey is to Thanksgiving. My grandmother Hilda Reyes spends two days preparing the dough, cooking the meat and sauce, assembling each tamale, and wrapping them in banana leaves. We eat them on Christmas at the stroke of midnight, which is also when we exchange presents, a tradition from Guatemala. There, people pour into the streets at midnight to set off fireworks, an exuberance I’ll always associate with the taste of tamales.
INGREDIENTS (Yields 50 Tamales)
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 5 pounds tortilla dough (This can sometimes be bought already prepared; otherwise buy masa harina, a fine corn flour available at specialty markets, and add water according to the instructions on the package.)
- 3 pounds pork, chicken, or turkey, bones removed
- 12 ounces pork lard
- 3 pounds of tomatoes 3 ancho peppers
- 2 bell peppers, sliced
- 2 ounces pumpkin seeds 2 ounces sesame seeds
- Banana leaves (about 2 square yards), available at specialty markets
- 1–2 jars green olives
INSTRUCTIONS
- Soak the rice overnight and puree it, uncooked, in a blender the next day. Add the pureed rice to the tortilla dough.
- Place the meat in a large pot and add enough water to cover it. Cook on the stovetop for about 15 minutes, adding salt to taste. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
- Add the broth from the meat to the dough and mix by hand until no lumps are left. Add the lard to the dough, along with salt to taste, and cook in a large pot on the stovetop over low heat for about 2 hours or until thick enough to hold its shape; it should be about the consistency of play dough. The dough must be stirred constantly while it cooks. (If you have other people around, feel free to ask them to stir.)
- Boil the tomatoes and peppers in a small amount of water. Brown the pumpkin and sesame seeds by toasting them in the oven or on a burner in a heavy, dry saucepan. Grind the seeds in a blender until they form a fine powder, then stir them into the tomato sauce, along with the salt and a pinch of sugar. Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes. Add the cooked meat, cut up, and simmer over very low heat until ready to use.
- Cut the banana leaves into 10-inch squares and boil in plenty of water for 10 minutes. Wipe the leaves clean and toast them in the oven at 350 degrees, about 5 at a time for about 30 seconds on each side to make them more pliable.
- Spread the dough over each section of banana leaf. Add the sauce, making sure to include a piece of meat and a slice of pepper from the pot, and then add an olive. Put more dough on top and wrap up each banana leaf, tying it with a shred of banana leaf, string, or homemade string from a reed.
- Wrap tamales in aluminum foil (optional) and add an inch or two of water into a large pot. Heat the water to boiling and then add the tamales and cover the pot. Let steam for 2 hours. You can line the bottom of the pot with extra banana leaves to make sure the tamales don’t touch the bottom of the pot and scorch.
Serve with: Fresh lime juice and slices of plain white bread, such as Wonder Bread.
