I have a friend who is amazing at cooking several Mexican dishes. One of those is Tamale’s. A few years back, I spent the afternoon with her learning how to make these.

This is the Pork Butt. I simmered it all night. One whole boneless pork butt. California Chili Peppers, dried. Peppercorns, whole Garlic. An Onion. I also added some fresh Bay Leaves from my garden. The next day, I cooled the meat, saved the peppers and garlic. Shredded the meat. Also saving the Stock.

The Masa. One bag of Masa, 2# of Lard, purchased fresh from the Mexican grocery store. Salt, and the stock from the pork.

The Sauce. Dried California chili’s, Seeded. Fresh garlic, Salt, water. In my Vitamix. Blended into a beautiful red sauce. Some of that also into the masa.

Some corn husks. Shredded meat also mixed with the sauce. and I roasted some peppers to layer in to the husks with the masa and shredded pork.

The finished product. just ready to cook. Steamed for 45minutes. Some pepper sauce.

These are amazing. Soft, full of subtle flavor. A mild spice. There are hotter peppers, but the california chilis are very mild. They are actually Anaheim papers that are dried.

You want to learn more about how to make these, leave a comment, and I can write out a basic recipe. They definitely take some time to make, the process with the pork takes 2 day’s. I Vacuum seal in small batches. They store very good in the freezer for a good year. In fact, last time I made a double batch and they were in my freezer for a year and 1/2. Still very good. Best, strait out of the steamer.