-
1
Cook the filling
25 minutes
Simmering (95°C / 203°F)
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and cook the onion, pepper and garlic for 5 minutes until soft. Add the tomato, cumin and oregano and cook 3 minutes more, then fold in the shredded chicken, diced pork, olives, capers, raisins, prunes and culantro with 3 g of salt. Cook for 5 minutes, until the mixture is moist but not wet, then set aside to cool. The filling must be fully cooked and cooled before it meets the raw masa.
If the filling looks wet, keep cooking until the juices thicken — wet filling makes soggy masa.
Done when: Filling is moist, well mixed and cool enough to handle; chicken and pork reach 74°C (165°F).
-
2
Beat the raw masa
15 minutes
Room temperature (20°C / 68°F)
Beat the softened lard with the remaining 6 g of salt until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the masa harina a little at a time, alternating with the warm broth, and beat until the masa is smooth, soft and spreadable — it should hold a soft peak and float a spoonful in a glass of water. This is RAW masa: it is never cooked before wrapping, and the beating is what makes the finished tamale light instead of dense.
The float test is the real check: drop a small ball of masa into cold water. If it floats, the masa is beaten enough; if it sinks, beat for 5 minutes more.
Done when: Masa is smooth, pale and fluffy; a small ball floats in cold water.
-
3
Spread and fill
20 minutes
Room temperature (20°C / 68°F)
Lay a banana leaf square shiny-side down. Spread about 95 g of raw masa — a heaped cooking spoon — into a thin rectangle in the centre, leaving a border of leaf all round. Spoon about 70 g of the cooled filling down the middle of the masa, then fold the masa over the filling from both sides so it is enclosed, like closing a book.
Spread the masa thin and even; a thick layer will not cook through in the centre.
Done when: Each leaf holds a thin, even layer of raw masa with the filling enclosed in the middle.
-
4
Wrap and tie the parcels
15 minutes
Room temperature (20°C / 68°F)
Fold the leaf over the parcel from the top and bottom, then from the sides, to make a neat rectangular packet about 15 cm by 8 cm (6 by 3 inches). Tie with kitchen string around all four sides so the parcel stays shut. Repeat until you have 12 small parcels — deliberately smaller than a Nicaraguan nacatamal, which is a large, heavy parcel with rice and potato inside. These have no rice, no potato and no mint, only masa and the chicken-and-pork filling.
Tie firmly but not so tight that the leaf tears; the string just needs to hold the folds shut.
Done when: 12 neat, firmly tied rectangular parcels, each about 15 cm by 8 cm.
-
5
Steam the tamales
90 minutes
Steaming (100°C / 212°F)
Line the bottom of a large pot with a few spare leaves, stand the parcels upright or stack them loosely, and add water to just below the parcels. Cover with more leaves and a tight lid, bring to a boil, then steam gently for 90 minutes, topping up the water if the pot runs dry. The masa cooks inside the leaf — it sets firm and pulls cleanly away from the leaf when done.
Keep the water at a gentle boil, not a furious one, and never let the pot boil dry or the leaves scorch.
Done when: Masa is set, moist and firm; it pulls cleanly away from the banana leaf.
-
6
Rest and unwrap
10 minutes
Serving hot (above 60°C / 140°F)
Take the pot off the heat and rest the tamales for 10 minutes. Untie and unwrap each parcel at the table — the banana leaf is the wrapper, not the food — and serve two tamales per person with a green salad and hot sauce.
Resting lets the masa firm up; unwrapping too soon leaves masa stuck to the leaf.
Done when: Tamales are hot, set and fragrant; the masa holds its shape when unwrapped.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Unwrap the tamales at the table so the steam and the banana-leaf fragrance escape in front of everyone. Serve two per person with a crisp green salad, lime wedges and hot sauce.
Panama
1h 15m
Italy
Thailand