Homemade Tamales with Rojos de Pollo

it is finally time it is tamale day and I don't know why it's taken me this long to make them tamales are delicious Masa dough usually with filling wrapped in a corn husk and steamed until finished they're beyond tasty and shout out to my man Gustavo who's been asking me persistently for two years to make them by simply writing tamales on every single one of my Facebook posts well my friend this one's for you I hope my recipe lives up to the height let's not waste any more time and get right into it sound good let's cook we are going to start off by prepping up our husks and I've got about 40 to 50 dried corn husks which equal about two-thirds pound or 302 grams you can absolutely pick these up from any Latin grocery store what I like to do is remove them from the package one by one and place them in a large container next cover them and submerge them completely in cold water and let them sit overnight or for at least 12 hours now these are a lot like dried beans because the other option is to cover them in hot boiling water and let them sit for one hour either of these procedures will work now comey's before we actually get to the tamale dough you have to pick out what filling you want to go in the inside and for me the filling just takes it to the next level and the possibilities are endless cheese beans rice salsa you name it now for me my family loves tamales but they're not huge fans of pork or beef so I'm going to make something known as Rojos de pollo which is slow cooked chicken in a zesty red sauce so good all right let's get it I've got a four and a half pound or 2041 gram whole chicken that I've broken down into Parts breasts thighs drums and wings now to see me do this completely check out my arroz compo video I show you how easy it is to fabricate it after it's broken down it equals about three pounds or 1360 grams remember that carcass save it later for stock put it in the freezer now what I'm going to do is generously season both sides of the chicken with salt and fresh cracked black pepper then I'm taking it right over to my cooktop where I have a very large Rondo pot next we're going to add in three tablespoons or 45 grams of olive oil crank the heat up to high we want to get this to a smoking point once it is rolling smoke we're going to add the chicken skin side down try not to crowd the pan we want to sear it not steam it once all the chicken is in there immediately turn down the heat to medium high we're only going to be cooking this for about three to four minutes per side we want to get a beautiful golden brown but we don't necessarily need to cook it through at this stage once they are completely Brown let's remove them from the pan and set them to the side on a plate in that same pan I'm going to add in one peeled and thinly sliced yellow onion you could use a white or sweet onion as well turn the heat down to medium it's pretty hot in there we're going to saute this for about four to five minutes get a nice golden brown on them just like this then what I'm going to do is add in about six garlic cloves if you want to add a little bit more because you love garlic no problem we're going to saute these just until fragrant which takes about 30 to 45 seconds then I'm going to add in two bay leaves now I have 10 cups or 2.36 liters of good chicken stock you could also use water or veg stock season this up well with salt and pepper this is our braising liquid for the chicken so as I always say try it out put a spoon in there does it need a little bit more salt and pepper you be the judge at this stage add our chicken right back into that liquid make sure it is submerged then we're going to add a lid on it and cook it over medium heat for about one hour with about 15 minutes left in the cooking process we are going to come back and start prepping up a few other things I'm going to start off with some ancho chilies these are not very spicy at all but to ensure a lot of the spice is removed I'm going to take out the pith which is where all the spice is and the seeds which the pith will bleed over into those seeds so they've got some heat too next I have two guajillo chilies same exact thing removing the pith and the seeds set them to the side now if you love spice add in one two or three Chile for me I can't handle it I'm not doing it next I have one yellow onion which I'm going to peel and roughly chop you could use a wider sweet onion then I've got five Roma tomatoes which I'm going to remove the stem and then just slice them in half these are great tomato to use all year round add that to a bowl take those the chilies and the onions back over to our cooktop let's see how our chicken is doing it is tender it is fall off the bone excellent what we're gonna do is take the chicken out set it to the side on a plate now for the stock that's left over that's good stuff we are going to drain it through a shin wall completely but there's still going to be a few things in there let's remove the bay leaves but that garlic and onion there's a lot of flavor in there add that right to the chicken and set it aside to cool just for the time being when I make a classical recipe I do a ton of research especially if I've only made it a few times and I try to figure out ways then I can make it taste better through techniques now the ingredients will always speak for themselves but how do I make these humble ingredients taste even better for me it comes in roasting and caramelizing when you do those things the flavors will enhance and we'll always take it to the next level here is what we're gonna do adding that Rondo pot right back to the burner going to add in three tablespoons or 45 grams of olive oil again on high heat once it starts to smoke we're going to add in that onion we roughly chopped and I'm going to cook this for about three to four minutes gonna get brown really quick and I'm gonna add in 10 garlic cloves we're gonna saute this just until fragrant then I've got one teaspoon or two grams of cumin seeds then what I'm gonna do is add in the tomatoes and chilies now we just want to saute these for a couple of minutes one two three minutes nothing more than that once they get a little bit blister on the peeling of the Tomato like this I know I'm good to go now we're going to add in four cups or 946 milliliters of that chicken stock that we strained I'm going to cook this over low to medium heat for about 15 minutes we want the chilies to soften up but guess what this is great time because let's grab that chicken it's had some time to cool what we want to do is remove move the skin take the bones out and shred it you can do this by using your hands or a couple of forks think smoked pulled chicken same exact process all right this looks excellent remember the onions and garlic are in there as well let's go back over check out our tomatoes and chilies they look excellent the chilies are nice and soft what we're going to do is take this over to a blender pour all that goodness in there then put the top of the blender on and I always say this when you got hot liquid in there remove that Center piece so it doesn't explode when you turn it on what I do is usually just put a kitchen towel over top I'm going to start on low speed and then Crank It Up To High I want to make sure this is completely smooth make sure that cumin is nice and smooth and Blended in there this looks perfect going back over to our Rondo pot pour that in there then I'm going to add a little water to the blender and just swoosh it around and add it in there it's a lot of goodness flavors still left in that blender container now adjust the seasonings but first taste it season Once taste twice does it need more salt pepper you be the judge add our shredded chicken in there mix it until combined nothing more than that then we're gonna set it to the side to briefly cool at room temperature tamales are the epitome of Mexican comfort food and they date back thousands of years to ancient civilizations living in Mexico and as I've already stated there are a myriad of different feelings you can put in them however my guess is like other Cuisines when they were first being created it was probably dependent on what ingredients are available and how do I make this taste delicious now if you look for Tamales online you're going to see an assortment of ingredients and procedures for the exact same thing that's why the best food no matter the background is always classical comfort food recipes all right let's make this tamale dough all right I have two cups or 410 grams of pork lard another substitute would be regular vegetable shortening and you can even cut some of that vegetable shortening with some unsalted butter add on the Whisk attachment to that stand mixer and whip on high speed for about five to seven minutes or until light and fluffy just like this turn it off then add in six cups or 744 grams of masa harina this is finely ground this is where all the flavor comes from my friends then one tablespoon or 14 grams of baking powder then one teaspoon or five grams of coarse salt next we're gonna slowly start to add in one cup or 236 milliliters at a time of that warm chicken stock that's left over that we strained we want to mix it in slowly so I'm gonna adjust it from high speed back down to low speed and continually adding in that stock until it is completely combined now when it's finished adding in there it's going to be a nice soft slightly sticky dough now the best analogy I've seen is that it's kind of like peanut butter this is pretty close also be sure to taste this does it need a little bit more salt again you be the judge what we're gonna do once our tamale dough is mixed is quickly set it to the side now some of the tamales that I've ever eaten they're sometimes dry and Bland nothing worse than an under season tamale so absolutely try the dough there's nothing in that raw batter that's going to kill you stick a spoon in there try it make sure it's seasoned does it need a little bit more salt you be the judge all right let me show you how we stuff these up let's grab our corn husks what we want to do is strain these because I've been soaking for quite a while so just write in a strainer I like to sometimes squeeze them a little bit get a little bit more of that liquid out of there and just briefly dry them nothing crazy it's totally fine if there's still some moisture on there now this is completely cosmetic but see how that's not a flat line at the bottom I don't know just take some kitchen shears and flatten it out make a nice clean line that's just me you know I'm a little bit anal when it comes to cooking now to stuff these up we're going to take about a half cup or 70 grams of the Masa Dough Spread it right in the center to make a six by six inch or a 15 by 15 centimeter Square leaving about an inch at the top and plenty of room at the bottom bottom of the husk be generous with that Masa dough next we're going to add in some of that chicken filling and then push the husk together making a nice little fold in the center until it touches you'll get about 35 to 40 tamales out of these and you should have plenty of that chicken filling left over for tacos and burritos all right fold it over and then fold up the Bottom now this is completely optional but tear a little piece off from another husk and then wrap it around after you fold up that bottom part tie a little knot it makes it look pretty it's not necessary just repeat the process until everything is stuffed up this is going to take some time we're going to take them and place them in a large steamer basket you can stack them up or place them in vertically like I've done here then top off with a damp kitchen towel next we're going right into our pot it's got about an inch of water at the bottom over medium high heat put a lid on it's going to take in between an hour to an hour and 15 minutes for our tamales to be completely steamed and cooked these look awesome the smell on these oh my goodness we are gonna briefly take them out and set them to the side to slightly cool for maybe just two to three minutes yes these are a Time labor of love but I promise you they are so worth it take a break for a Saturday call up the family call up friends make a day of it just like my aunt Pam on her ravioli day I promise you you don't want to get to the end of this life and think yeah I sure did spend a lot of time looking and scrolling through the phone for a bunch of useless information now this food this process is meant to be enjoyed with others so I implore you get out and do these with family and friends you will not regret it all right let's open one of these up try them out all right I'm just grabbing a random tamale here just gonna take off that little tie and open it up and oh I mean this isn't even the prettiest one I just grabbed the first one looks so good they're tender they're moist you're gonna love these thanks again to my friend Gustavo had so much fun making these and I think you and your family will too definitely give them a shot so much flavor if you love these definitely check out my mole verde with chicken oh the flavors in there incredible got a great recipe video I'll see you on there [Music]

Channel: Chef Billy Parisi

Views: 6,625

Keywords: Tamales, tamale, tamales recipe, tamale recipe, tamales with chicken, chicken tamales, tamales rojos, tamales rojos de pollo, rojo tamales, homemade tamales, homemade tamales chicken, tamales filling, chef billy parisi, chef billy, billy parisi, how to make tamales

Id: XtnI6G49gRI

Length: 13min 9sec (789 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 28 2023