A tamale with all the ingredients of a pulled pork sandwich - smoked pork, BBQ sauce and dill pickles, and served with coleslaw.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. (I use my teakettle)
Loosen the cornhusks and lay them flat as possible in the larger casserole dish.
Place the smaller casserole on top to submerge the husks.
Warm up the pork if it's cold. Using a couple of forks pull the pork into small strips and pieces.
Add the barbecue sauce and stir to combine. Set aside.
Heat the broth to about 180°F. (Doesn't need to be exact. Just needs to be hot.)
In the large mixing bowl, add the masa harina and salt. Whisk to combine.
Add the oil and diced pickles. Stir into the masa.
Add the pickle juice and about 1/2 cup of the broth, stirring to combine. Continue to add up to 1 ½ cup broth, incorporating it into the masa. Work the masa into a dough. If it isn't a soft masa (easy to fold), add the rest of the broth. You don't want the masa too dry.
The assembly goes relatively fast when you have a second person. One person places the masa and the pork on the cornhusk and wraps, while the second person folds and ties.
Select two of the narrowest cornhusks to create the tamales ties. Tear the husks lengthwise into thin strips about ¼ inch wide.
Using a spatula, place about ½ cup masa mixture lengthwise down the center on the wide half of the husk creating a rough rectangle (Don’t place the masa too far down the husk, because, after closing the tamales, you’ll be folding the bottom half of the husk up toward the top half in order to tie close.)
Make a slight indention in the center of the masa and scoop about 1 - 2 Tbsp. pork down the center of the masa. Close the husk by bringing the two edges of the masa together folding the pork within.
Fold the cornhusk around the tamale filling and gently press to flatten just a bit.
Continue making tamales until the masa and the filling is gone.
In the steamer basket, place the tamales, vertically, with the opened end up. If the tamales do not fill the steamer enough to stand relatively straight, use a couple of the extra cornhusks to separate the tamales or wrap around them to help hold them.
After an hour, remove from the heat, uncover, and let rest for 5 minutes.
At this point your tamales should be done. However, if, when you unwrap one, if the tamales mixture is sticking to the husk, then return to the steamer and steam another 10 minutes.
Pulled Pork - You can use any pulled pork for these tamales or pulled chicken for that matter. Personally, I do love a good smoked pulled pork, so if you have it, use it.
Barbecue Sauce - Our based recipe is the Kansas City style BBQ sauce at Amazing Ribs. However we do make a few adjustments for our preferences. If you don't want to make your own sauce, then use your favorite. You can find the recipe for the BBQ sauce at this link.
Masa Harina - My favorite for tamales is Torti Masa, but any masa harina will do.
Chicken Broth - For the broth, I heat up 2 cup of water, then add 1 tsp. Better Than Bouillon Chicken paste. It's easy and taste great.
Canola Oil - Oil does give the tamales a different texture than when you use lard, but I'm not a big fan of lard. I actually like the creamier texture you get with the oil and the leftover tamales don't dry out near as much.
Steamer - The last picture in the instructions is how I rig up my small steamer for a single batch of tamales. I have a large one for double and triple batches, but this one works great for up to 18 tamales. The aluminum foil is to prevent the steam from escaping between the two sections.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen