KALUA PORK TAMALES

KALUA PORK TAMALES

#SIAintheKitchen

I loooove fusion dishes…when done correctly. When I was faced with a buttload of leftover kalua pork, I had to innovate and think: what else can I make with this? I hate throwing food into the bin and very rarely do I ever waste food. I always force myself to try and repurpose food to make a new meal and my kalua pork tamales were a total hit.

I’m a huge fan of Hawaiian food and make kalua pork very often in my household. There as a huge 2 kg hunk of pork shoulder that I found and made a generous amount of kalua pork recently and it came to a point where I needed to reinvent this dish. I had run out of rice and cabbage and both my partner and I were getting a little tired of eating this over and over again. I had a huge bag of masa flour and corn husks that I hadn’t opened yet and thought, “It’s time to make tamales”.

I made a standard tamale dough which was actually very simple! I used melted shortening in lieu of lard as one of my good friends, Hector, said you definitely cannot skip this part out. It adds richness to the tamale and sets it apart from those that don’t include it.

Instead of using water, I also used homemade vegetable stock to increase that flavour. I make veggie stock a couple times a month and regularly cycle through so was happy to use this as it was available.

The end product? TAMALE HEAVEN! I’m a big fan of tamales and have always wanted to make this from scratch since the borders are closed and I can’t travel. Also, don’t talk to me about the Mexican food in Vancouver - it’s not very good. And even if they are good, they don’t have tamales.

Give this recipe a try. It’s incredibly simple and makes a good amount of tamales! After eating six (yes, SIX!!!), I placed them in my freezer where they froze beautifully. They last about 3 months in the freezer but, as you can tell, it didn’t last that long in my freezer. Enjoy!

KALUA PORK TAMALES - makes 24 tamales

• 26 corn husks

• 3 cups masa harina

• 1 cup shortening, melted

• 3 cups vegetable broth, cooled

• 1/2 tbsp chili powder

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 2 tsps kosher salt

• 4 cups leftover cooked kalua pork, with gelatinized juices, refrigerated

1. In a large heat-proof bowl, pour enough boiling water over top of the corn husks to submerge them. Soak for 1 hour until the husks become soft and pliable.

2. Meanwhile, make the masa. In a large bowl, mix the masa harina with chili powder, cumin, and salt until thoroughly incorporated. Pour the melted shortening over top and mix together. In 1/2 cup portions, add the vegetable broth to the masa. Mine took 3 cups of broth to gain the right consistency - it should almost resemble Playdough and shouldn’t be dry and crumble or overly moist. Cover the bowl with cloth to prevent the masa from drying out.

3. Once you are ready, drain the soaking liquid from the corn husks (or save it to steam later - up to you). Take one corn husk and lay it base or thick side down facing you. Take a heaping spoonful of masa and spread a thin layer of masa over the bottom half of the corn husk. I found that patting it down with a spatula, back of a spoon or a butterknife was helpful.

4. Next, take 2 tbsp of kalua pork and spread in the center of the masa. Fold one side of the tamale in and folder the other side over and roll into a cylindrical shape.

5. Once the tamale is tightly bound, fold the top half of the tamale over and place folded side down on a baking sheet. Repeat until all of the masa, meat and most of the husks are used up. Optional: you may rip off “strings” off of excess corn husks to tie the tamales together to keep the tamales bound or to make them look prettier.

6. Once the tamales are finished, lay them vertically in a Dutch oven, open-side up. I was able to fit all of my tamales in my pot with a little open space in the centre. Pour 2” of boiling water in the open space, avoiding drenching any of the tamales.

7. Turn the heat on high and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and keep at a simmer to steam the tamales. Cover with the remaining corn husks and place a lid over top. Steam for 1.5 hours or until the masa easily peels away from the corn husk. Serve with hot sauce.