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There's two main kinds of tamales that I'm familiar with: the classic mexican ones and the Oaxaqueñan ones. Classic tamales are wrapped with corn husks that are dried up and the Oaxaca style ones are covered in banana tree leaves.

This is how you're supposed to wrap tamales; but given that fresh banana leaves are probably hard to get and you might have a hard time getting corn husks; you can still wrap tamales with aluminum paper. Basically what tamales are is a sort of vapored cooked mashed corn pastry with all sorts of fillings. They can be either sweet or salty.

I've never seen bean filled tamales before, just not something seen in Mexico City. You can make tamales with really bizarre fillings, like pinneapple with fish, there is no specific rule to what you can put in them, you just have to make the corn paste.

I've never made tamales myself (I personally find tamales to be disgusting, the flavors normally sold just make me nauseous for some reason and everytime I do eat one, I get sick); however you can buy mexican brand corn flour over the internet. Just look for stores that sell Maicena.

You can also make the paste from fresh mexican corn which is a tiring and complex process that requires several hours to cook, a huge pot and some lime.

Other than that, filling the tamales is very wide open to personal taste; you can wrap them with aluminum foil and you just need to vapor cook them. If you don't have special vapor cooking kitchenware, you can improvise by using a pot, fill it wth some water and put a metallic grill separator and put the tamales on top. They only need to be cooked for about 10 minutes once the water below is boiling.

Ick, just thinking of tamales is making me nauseous, I really, can't stand eating them.

those are both good answers. I wanted to read what the others said. If that is a pic of you Queen Your hotter than any Tamale i have ever had. Lucky husband.

Mexican nutrition is amazingly close by. i imagine you want to be better particular about what precisely you may want to favor to organize dinner. as an get jointly, each and every area of Mexico has a unique idea of what an enchilada might want to be. inspect a cookbook by technique of Diane Kennedy or Rick Bayless.

Hi Queen, I just wanted to add that you can also go to local Mexican stores or restaurants and order them by the dozen.Thats what we do.We did make them once.....never again.It is wayyyyy too much work,and we're Mexican!

Real Homemade Tamales

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* Tamale Filling:

* 1 1/4 pounds pork loin

* 1 large onion, halved

* 1 clove garlic

* 4 dried California chile pods

* 2 cups water

* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

*

* Tamale Dough:

* 2 cups masa harina

* 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 2/3 cup lard

* 1 (8 ounce) package dried corn husks

* 1 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Place pork into a Dutch oven with onion and garlic, and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the meat is cooked through, about 2 hours.

2. Use rubber gloves to remove stems and seeds from the chile pods. Place chiles in a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then remove from heat to cool. Transfer the chiles and water to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture, stir in salt, and set aside. Shred the cooked meat and mix in one cup of the chile sauce.

3. Soak the corn husks in a bowl of warm water. In a large bowl, beat the lard with a tablespoon of the broth until fluffy. Combine the masa harina, baking powder and salt; stir into the lard mixture, adding more broth as necessary to form a spongy dough.

4. Spread the dough out over the corn husks to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Place one tablespoon of the meat filling into the center. Fold the sides of the husks in toward the center and place in a steamer. Steam for 1 hour.

5. Remove tamales from husks and drizzle remaining chile sauce over. Top with sour cream. For a creamy sauce, mix sour cream into the chile sauce.

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Vegetarian Mexican Tamales Recipe

* 1 Bag of Corn Husks

* 5 Ancho (Dried Poblano) Chilies

* 1 Hunk of Unsweetened Dark Chocolate

* Saucy Filling

o Torn/Ground Meat or Meat Substitute

o 1 Chopped Onion (Medium Fine)

o 3 Cloves of Minced Garlic

o 1/3 Finely Cut Red Bell Peppers (I use a small jar of Pimientos)

o 1 Can of Corn

o 2 Tablespoons Chili Seasoning

o 2 Tablespoons Menudo Seasoning

o 1 Tablespoon of Oregano

o 1 Can of Seasoned Mashed Refried Beans

* 1 Entire pod of Finely Minced Garlic (again)

* 1 Tablespoon of Cumin

* 1 Tablespoon Menudo Seasoning

* 1 Tablespoon of Oregano

* 6 Cups of Masa Flour

* 5 Cups of Chicken / Beef Broth

* 1 Cup of Corn Oil

* 1 Cup of Melted Shortening (or any other “hard fat”)

* 5 Tablespoons of Salt

* 1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder

1. Soak the corn husks in warm water so that they can soften.

2. Deseed and remove the stems from the dried chilies. Tear the “skins” in boiling water. Boil until the “skins” turn a little more thick and fleshy.

3. Blend the boiled chili pieces and the hunk of chocolate in about two cups of fresh water until smooth. Some people like to reuse the boiling water for this.

4. Make the Filling

1. Grill the meat in a skillet

2. Sauté the onions, garlic, and red bell peppers with the meat

3. Grill the corn with the skillet mixture

4. Add the seasonings and about 1/4 of the blended chili sauce.

5. Finally, incorporate the pinto beans with the filling.

5. Sauté the garlic with cumin, oregano, and menudo seasoning.

6. Mix the masa flour, broth, corn oil, shortening, salt, baking powder, sautéed garlic, and the rest of the chili sauce. I’ve seen “authentic” Mexican preparations of masa with a very soupy consistency. Personally, I like mine more solid so that it cooks faster. You can add more or less oil/water to your liking.

7. Spread less than 1/4 cup worth onto each corn husk (should cover 2/3 of the husk area) and add about 1-2 tablespoon(s) of filling on top. Fold the corn husk lengthwise so that the ends overlap towards the center. Then fold the empty part of the husk so that it overlaps on top of the closing.

8. Place the tamales in a steamer pot. I just use a normal tall stock pot with a steamer accessory on the bottom.

9. Add water to the steamer and tightly close the lid. I place a thin cloth between the lid and the pot so that the top is more tightly sealed.

10. Steam for at least 1 hour. I like to steam the tamales for 2 hours.

11. The tamales are cooked when the masa mixture separates easily from the corn husk.

30 corn husks in one minute http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7EYf5h8HFc (Preview) (Preview)

5 Easy Steps TAMALES- EXCELLENT MASA ENGLISH/SPANISH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fW7vV7BpTc (Preview) (Preview)

5 Easy Steps-TAMALES-SPREADING MASA/ UNTANDO MASA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmQU4N7zMFA (Preview) (Preview)

5 Easy Steps TAMALES-MEAT FILLING & SPICES/ RELLENO Y ESPECIAS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD5suWZdiaw (Preview) (Preview)

5 Easy Steps TAMALES-FILLING & ROLLING/ RELLENAR Y ENVOLVER http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63MsW8Nbplk (Preview) (Preview)

5 Easy Steps TAMALES- COOKING/ COCINANDO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHvFPpTvN_0 (Preview) (Preview)

Recipes / Recetas www.tamalespreader.com