Red Pork Tamales (Tamales Rojos)

Begin by soaking your corn husks in hot water to soften (or overnight with room temp water). Change this water a few times to rinse the husks while you're making the tamales.

To a stockpot, combine the pork butt, kosher salt, black peppercorns, onion, half head of garlic, bay leaves, and enough room temperature water to cover the pork. *Please use a pot larger than the one photographed here- this was too small and I ended up moving it into a bigger pot.

Bring to a gentle boil. Skim off any scum and excess oil that float to the surface, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer (NOT a rolling boil!), covered for 2 to 2 ½ hours. Add water as needed, if too much evaporates. *Tip: Once you cover the pot, the heat will naturally increase so make sure you check the strength of the simmer a couple minutes after you have covered it with a lid. You may need to adjust the heat. You don't want the water to boil too hot, or the pork will be tough and dry.

Remove the pork butt from the pot and let it cool. Once cooled, shred the pork, but don't over-shred into super thin strips or your tamales will have a mostly mushy texture. Make sure you throw away any pieces of rubbery membrane & connective tissue. Then cover with aluminum foil and set aside so it doesn't dry out.*We just spent a lot of time creating a super flavorful pork broth, and a lot of it. You won't need it all for this recipe, so if you want to have some of this pork broth on hand in your kitchen, now is the time to reserve some before adding the dried chilis to the remaining broth. But make sure you leave at least a few cups of broth to boil the dried chilis & tomatillos, and to reserve some for the salsa.

Reserve 1/2 cup of the pork broth for the salsa and masa (skim off the fat at the top if there is a lot), and set it aside for later. You'll only need 1/4 cup for the masa, but keep a little extra just in case you'll need more broth to loosen the masa.

Remove the stem and seeds from the dried chilis. If you have a low spice tolerance, don't use the chile de arbol, those are very spicy!

To the leftover broth in the pot, add the dried chilis and tomatillos. Cover and gently boil for 10 minutes.

Combine the softened chilis, tomatillos, raw garlic cloves, salt, cumin, Knorr chicken bouillon, and 1¼ cups of the chili/pork broth in the blender. Blend for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Taste the salsa and add salt if needed.

Strain the sauce well and discard whatever is left over. You don't want these pieces of chili getting stuck in your teeth!

Reserve 1/3 cup of salsa for the masa and set this aside.

Melt 1 tbsp of lard in a saute pan over medium heat.

Carefully pour the rest of the salsa (about 3 cups) into the pan, and fry the sauce for a couple minutes.

Mix in the shredded pork and cook over medium low heat for 5-10 minutes.

Add salt to taste (I added about 1 tsp), then turn off the heat and cover.

Melt ½ cup of lard (or ⅓ cup if you prefer less lard) in a saucepan over the stove until it just starts to smoke. I'm not 100% sure why, but my Tia says that your lard needs to be smoking to make great tamales. Let the lard cool down a bit before adding to the masa.

Combine 1/3 cup of salsa roja and 1/4 cup warm broth in a measuring glass or cup.

To a stand mixer or mixing bowl with a electric hand mixer, combine the masa preparada, warm lard, baking powder, and salt. Mix on medium speed until well combined (about 5 minutes) then set the speed to low to slowly incorporate the salsa/broth mixture. Once fully combined, increase the speed to medium-high again for 5 to 10 minutes.If you don't have and electric mixer, you can just use your hands but it will take a bit longer- about 25 minutes total.

You'll know the masa is ready once it is light & fluffy. My Tia never did the "float test" but I think it is really helpful in determining whether your masa is ready. Drop a coin sized amount into a glass of water. If it floats, your masa is ready. If it sinks, your masa may need some more pork broth and/or lard mixed into it.*The masa photographed here is from my green chicken tamales float test- your masa should be a reddish color!

To taste test your masa for salt, microwave about 1 tablespoon of masa for 20-30 seconds. You want the masa to be just a bit over-salted, as they will lose some saltiness while steaming.

Cover and let your masa rest for 20 minutes before you begin spreading it onto the corn husks.

Using a bench scraper or spoon, spread the masa evenly onto the corn husks, Make sure you spread it on the smooth side, not the ribbed side (look closely, it can be hard to tell). I prefer a thinner masa, but feel free to make yours to your liking!

Add the cooked pork in salsa roja (cooled down). The amount I have is almost pushing it too far- careful not to overfill, especially if you have thinner masa.

Fold one side of the husk over the filling so the masa wraps around it, then fold the other side over to enclose the masa and filling completely. Fold the narrow bottom end of the husk up toward the center. This creates a little pocket to hold everything together. Then stack them at an angle so they hold their shape while you fold the rest. *If desired, tear a thin strip of corn husk and use it to tie the tamale, securing the folded bottom. This is also helpful for identifying different types of tamales if you're making more than one kind.

Fill the bottom of a large steamer pot (or large pot) with water. Make sure the water level is below the steamer basket or rack—you don’t want the water to touch the tamales. Place the steamer basket or rack inside the pot, then cover the bottom with some corn husks. Stand the tamales upright in the steamer with the open ends facing up. Lean the tamales against each other to keep them standing; this prevents them from falling over. If you don’t have enough tamales to fill the pot, use a ball of foil or extra corn husks to help prop them up.

Place any leftover corn husks on top of the tamales. I like to tuck the thin ends behind the tamales on the outer perimeter to make sure no water drips back down onto them while steaming.

Wrap a towel around the lid of the pot to collect water so it doesn't drip down the sides onto the tamales. Make sure the towel is securely tied at the top. I also put a weight on top of the lid so less steam escapes. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Do NOT walk away from the tamales at this point! Wait for it to start boiling, then reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle steam.

Let the tamales steam for 50 minutes to 1½ hours , or until the masa pulls away from the corn husks easily. The time depends on how many you are steaming. I would start checking at the 50 minute mark. Every 20–30 minutes, carefully check the water level to ensure the pot doesn’t boil dry. I do this by listening closely to the pot- you can hear if there is water simmering.

The tamales are done when the masa easily pulls away from the corn husks. They masa may look undercooked, this is because you MUST let them rest for 10-15 minutes so the masa can set.

That's it! I like my tamales with sour cream and lettuce. You may use some of the reserved salsa as well, but these tamales typically do not need extra salsa.