Tamales have always been such a staple in our annual meals.
We especially enjoy them around the holidays for Christmas Eve. For some reason
though, I never thought of trying to learn how to make them myself.
My mom and I had a tradition for years that we’d go to the
local quilt show downtown and have lunch at an amazing local Mexican restaurant.
As with many amazing places, they closed during the covid pandemic and decided
to retire and not re-open afterwards. It was such a bummer!
There was a particular dish they called Pastel de Elote. It
consisted of a delicious corn tamale with an amazing sauce over it. Whether it
was a pineapple sauce, a bean sauce, or a cheese sauce, it was always a perfect
part of a meal.
I needed to figure out how to re-create it. I began experimenting
with tamale pie and sweet tamalitos but none of them were quite there.
Meanwhile I started practicing making my own tamales, and I figured it was
worth trying a sweet corn filling. Oh man!! That hit the mark! I had finally found it! It was just a matter of
practicing and perfecting my technique.
One of the nice things about this recipe is that you can use
canned corn, frozen corn thawed, or fresh corn. It all works, and it all tastes
good! It will come down to personal preferences and what you can available to
you at the time.
I don’t fill mine. I like to cover them in sauce instead.
You could add a filling though (think sautéed veggie mix, mmm…), and then use a
sauce you’d like to use to finish it. It’s totally up to you. It shouldn’t
impact your cook time.
Sweet Corn Tamales
24 corn husks, soaked and patted dry
5 (15 oz) can sweet kernel corn, drained and rinsed (about 6
1/3 cups)
2 c masa harina (I use Maseca and Maseca Tamal)
¾ c plus 2 Tbs granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2/3 c canola oil
Make sure to soak your corn husks beforehand. Place them in
a large bowl and cover them completely with boiling water. Let them soak for
about an hour. Right before you’re ready to use them, pull them out and pat
them dry with towels.
In a blender, add the corn and blend until it’s a medium to
finely ground. It doesn’t need to be completely smooth, but there shouldn’t be
any whole kernels visible. Meanwhile, in a mixer bowl combine the masa harina,
sugar, baking powder, and salt and blend together. Add the oil and mix
together. The dough should feel a bit crumbly, almost like wet sand. If you
press it into a ball, it should hold its shape. Finally. Add the corn from the
blender and mix just until incorporated.
Grab a corn husk and identify which is the smooth side and
which is the rough side. Place the smooth side up and add about ¼ - ½ cup of
filling to the husk so that it’s smoothed out from about half way up the husk.
Fold the husk in on the sides, and then fold the top down to
create a pocket. Place in a bowl with the open edge facing up and continue with
the rest of the husks in the same manner.
Once all the tamales are ready, heat a steaming pot and line
the bottom with corn husks. Place the tamales into the steamer. Make sure the
open ends are all facing up when arranging them and cover them with more corn
husks. Place the lid snuggly on top and allow them to steam for about an hour
to an hour and fifteen minutes.
Once they’re soft and baked through, place them on a platter
to cool for about 10 minutes. Serve with
your fave sauce. I love covering these in my black bean puree or my baja sauce.
AMAZING!
*You can freeze these. I like to make packs of 6-8 for
future meals. I’ll freeze them and then when we’re ready to have them, I thaw
them for a couple hours and then steam to warm them the same way they’re cooked
initially, except a much shorter time. Maybe only 15 minutes or so, just until
they’re warmed through.
