Belizean Chicken Tamales Recipe Using Maseca

hey guys welcome back to my channel this is shirani today i'm going to show you how to make belizean chicken tamales [Music] for this recipe i'm using a whole chicken that i cut up and washed if you want to see how to cut up a whole chicken i have a video doing that i'm going to leave it linked below if you want to check that out now this is totally up to you on how you want to cut your chicken but when i'm making tamales i like to cut the meat a little bit smaller than if i was making stew chicken just because i don't like big pieces of meat in my tamales i like to mix it up with the bony part of the meat and like the breast so i always cut it a little bit smaller plus you want to get as much tamales as you can out of one chicken with this i got about 18 tamales but it all depends on how big you cut your chicken and how much you put in your tamales that's how much you're going to get it's always around 16 or 18 for me as always i'm going to have the exact measurements listed in the description box below for you okay so let's season the chicken to this i'm going to add some seasoned salt and this is the one i like to use i'm going to add a one and a half tablespoons i'm adding some complete seasoning and this is the one i like to use as well i'm adding one and a half tablespoons [Music] next i'm adding half of a tablespoon of black pepper i'm going to add one teaspoon of ground cumin you can add anywhere from one teaspoon to one and a half teaspoon it depends on how strong your cumin is next i'm going to add two large cloves of chopped garlic [Music] and the last thing is half a cup of chopped onion mix that really well so the chicken could get coated with the seasoning for those of you who don't know i have a tamales video out already it's made with pork and store bought masa but i was getting so many requests from you guys if i could please do a video using maseka because a lot of you can't find masa where you live well especially people in the states so this one is for you with my pot set over medium heat i'm going to add my chicken and i'm not putting any oil in a pot just because i don't need it i'm using a non-stick pot and i'm leaving the skin and the chicken so it doesn't need any oil i'm going to let this cook until the meat starts to get brown the one thing to know about making chicken tamales is the meat is very delicate especially if you cut it into really small pieces so you don't want to turn up your meat a whole lot otherwise it's going to break up and you don't want that but just go in there and stir it in [Music] between so let's start maseka if you don't know what maseka is it's instant corn masa flour that's all it is and you just have to mix it with water if you've watched my other tamales video you'll know that i like to blend up some of the corn with my seasoning so i'm just going to go ahead and mix this up that way i know how much corn i'm using so in my bowl i have two and a quarter cups of masaka and i'm adding two cups of water to it and i'm just going to mix this until everything is combined [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] i just want to wait out so you can see how much it is and this is a little bit more than a pound and a half [Music] okay so let's start achiote and ricardo they are basically the same thing just that one of them has spices in it and this is mainly for color it's not going to give your dish a whole lot of flavor but mainly to color it this is how the achote looks when you buy it in belize well at least where i come from in pg this is how you would buy it at the market and it always comes in a used coffee bottle so you know it's authentic and this is only five dollars so that's two dollars and fifty cents us and this thing lasts forever because a little bit goes a long way now the achiote we get here is what we would call ricardo in belize i know it's bel achiote but as belizeans we say achote so the achiote and the ricardo is the same thing and i just want to show you that you can use either one to make your tamales because a lot of people can't get the kind like we get back home in belize and this is more easily available so you can make it with either one your tamales is just not going to look as red as if you were using the one like we get in belize but it will still be good so it all depends on which one you're using if you're using the belizean achote you don't want to use too too much otherwise your tamales is going to be too red and it could end up tasting a little bit bitter so don't overdo it on this one something about eating your tamales with the cold looking red just makes me happy i don't know maybe it's because that's the way i grew up eating tamales and i feel like if it's not red it's not going to be nice but it still is it's just in my head you know that's just what i'm used to with this one you're going to use a lot more than if you're using the belizean one it's not going to look as red but it's still going to be good [Music] now this sazon is something i like to add to my tamales this is not something my mom would have used but i love it and i just feel like it adds so much more flavor to the tamales so if you can get your hands on this you need to put this in your tamales and then for your tamales you're going to need some calandro and i want to show you again for the people that don't know this is what cilantro looks like it's not the same as cilantro they are two different things and they taste different a little tip for you when you bring your kalanchoe home just take it and wrap it up in some paper towels and then put it in as a black bag and it will last a long time i think this lasts about two weeks or a little bit more usually if you just leave it in a bag just like that and put it in the fridge it goes bad really fast i also do this with cilantro or any herbs that i buy and they just last so much longer [Music] i just went ahead and washed my cilantro and cut it up before i use it [Music] in my last video i showed you how to make the tamales with lard but in this video i use shortening so i just want to show you that you can use different things and you will still get a good result i just measure out how much i need and then i microwave it before i use it you just want your shortening or your lard to be melted while you're getting everything ready don't forget to stir your pot you don't want your meat to break up but you want it to get brown okay so let's make the cold or the red sauce to my blender i'm going to add half of the masaka that i mixed earlier [Music] i'm going to add some water to that you just want to add enough water to that to cover the corn and like i said i'm going to have the exact measurements listed below for you if you don't know already i have measurements for all my videos in the description box of each video to the blender i added about a tablespoon of the actuated paste [Music] next i'm adding about a half a cup of chopped cilantro [Music] i'm adding one tablespoon of tomato paste and i like to buy my tomato paste in a tube it's just easier to store that way [Music] i'm adding one whole hot pepper and if you don't like it spicy you don't have to put pepper you can skip it but this pepper just makes it so good this one is not really that hot but it just gives it a good flavor i'm adding three packs of this sazon they need to sponsor me or something because i'm always using their seasoning i just love it so much it adds so much flavor to things i use it in my panadas my salbutes my tamales my crab soup i use it in everything now i'm just going to cover this and blend this for a good minute i just want everything to blend really [Music] good [Music] do [Music] so now that my meat is nice and brown i'm going to add the coal or the red sauce to it i'm adding some more water to the pot because i don't want it to stick i'm using eight cups of water total and that includes the water in a blender so you have to work really fast when you're doing this because it will stick to the pot and you need to keep stirring it now i'm just going to blend the next half of the corn with some more water [Music] i'm adding it to the pot and then i'm just going to stir this until this mixture thickens you don't want to leave your pot you have to keep stirring it because you don't want it to clump up [Music] [Music] you want to cook this until it's really thick because when you put it in a tamales you don't want it to run out [Music] after it thickens up that's when i like to go in there and add a little bit of salt i just feel like that brings out all the [Music] [Music] flavors [Music] this is just how i like it now i'm going to remove it from the heat and let it cool down and then i'm going to work on the other part of the tamales [Music] so in my bowl here i have two and three quarter cups of masaka to that i'm going to add one and a half teaspoons of salt and then i'm just going to mix that around [Music] next i'm going to add three and a quarter cups of water [Music] and i'm going to add 1 3 cup of the melted shortening mix that really well until everything is combined this is something i came up with on my own my mom didn't do it this way but i feel like this just makes it a lot easier [Music] you want to mix this until it's really smooth you don't want to have any lumps in there my arm was getting really tired so have i had to step in and help me stir [Music] it [Music] [Music] do [Music] so to wrap the tamales i like to use aluminum foil i know some people use the leaf but i don't really care for the leaf to be honest i just like the foil and it's easy and it's always available sometimes it's hard to find and leave here where i live you just want the 30 foil big enough to fit your tamales the way i like to do this is to use one spoon of the masa per tamales now you can make this as thin or as thick as you want it's up to you but to me one spoon is the perfect amount so you just want to spread this out on your foil and then you add the cold [Music] mixture [Music] so when it comes to the meat you add how much you want so because this is a drumstick i'm just adding one piece of meat in this tamales but if it was a smaller piece then i'll add a little bit more so i'm just putting one piece of meat and one spoon of the coal in this tamales to wrap the tamales you just want to lift up both ends of the foil and hold them together and then fold it over and you want to do this as tight as you can and work as quick as you can because you don't want the filling to come out on the sides lift both ends of the foil up and then fold it over to seal the edges [Music] i just like to go over it again and make sure everything is tightly sealed before i start on the next one i'll do a couple more so you can see what i'm doing one thing to know about doing this on aluminum foil you don't want to get the cheapest foil out there otherwise when you rub the tamales it's going to tear on you and you don't want that [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] whenever i make tamales i always have a little bit of leftovers and i like to freeze it don't ever throw it away you can always freeze it and use it for your next batch of tamales why waste a good thing but it's always so good the next time just let it out completely and then put it in the next amount you're making and you're good to go you never have to waste it if you're interested in any of the spices i use like the seasoned salt the achote or even these pretty bowls i have them in my amazon store so i'm going to leave the link below if you want to check that out [Music] now these are ready for the freezer to boil your tamales you need the biggest pot you can find so this is the biggest one i have and it's a really thin pot so i like to put down a piece of foil on the bottom before i add my tamales to it [Music] now i'm going to fill it with water and you just want enough water in there to cover the tamales to speed up the process you can just go ahead and add hot water to your tamales or you can just add your regular tap water [Music] [Music] you want to let this come to a boil and then lower your heat to medium and let this boil for one hour [Music] so this is what it looks like after an hour as you can see the foil change color and that happens sometimes it depends on the foil i buy sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't [Music] you want to let this cool down before you handle it and i will just give it enough time to set up also so at least 20 to 30 minutes before you open it [Music] well here it is the moment of truth we've all been waiting for this so this is what it looks like if you're making your tamales with maseka versus the store-bought masa you know to be honest i really can't tell any difference it looks the same and it tastes the same to me the only thing is it's not as red as i would like it to be but other than that it tastes really good it's perfect i wish i could describe to you how good this is it's a little bit spicy my hubby said it was too spicy for him but for me it was perfect so if you don't like pepper you can skip it but i really think you need to put a little piece in there because it adds flavor to it so just keep that in mind [Music] [Music] so [Music] i wanted to open another one so you can see what it looks like and it's like a present every time because you never know what cut off the meat you're going to get i like all the bony part i like the neck the wing the backbone and my hobby he likes all the meaty parts so we always even out each other [Music] well i really hope you guys enjoyed this one i enjoyed making it if you like it please give it a thumbs up that will really help out my channel and as always thank you so so much for watching thank you for subscribing if you have not yet subscribed please don't forget to do that and i'll talk to you in my next one take care bye

Channel: Cooking with Shirani

Views: 57,733

Keywords: cooking with shirani, belizean chicken tamales, chicken tamales, chicken tamales recipe, belizean chicken tamales recipe, belizean tamales, belizean tamales recipe, belizean tamales ingredients, how to make chicken tamales, how to make masa for tamales, how to make tamales with maseca, how to make masa for tamales using maseca, how to prepare maseca for tamales, tamales maseca recipe, tamales maseca, tamales maseca receta, how to boil tamales, how to make masa with maseca

Id: a7aaiLlZTlM

Length: 25min 34sec (1534 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 06 2020