I love me some tamales.

Shout out to Hispanic Heritage Month! I went to a Mexican restaurant the other day and got some authentic pork tamales. I asked for a sample of every salsa they had so that I could savor each bite with a different and delicious flavor. My favorite salsa to eat with a pork tamale is the spicy hot one. For me, the spicier the salsa with a tamale, the better.

I love tamales so much that I have decided to try my hand at making my own. I have never seen anyone make tamales from scratch up close and personal, but thankfully, YouTube is the next best thing. There are a plethora of videos that will teach you how to make your own homemade tamales, but I have found a few that made me give them a chef's kiss!

If you want to make your own tamales, you need:

  • A great mixer, preferably a Kitchen Aid-type mixer, that way you won't wear out your wrists stirring the corn masa in the bowl.
  • A good, spicy red sauce. Incorporate the red sauce in your masa flour mix. The best ingredient to make a delicious red sauce is New Mexico peppers. You can buy them in bulk at any Mexican grocery store, like Super Mercado Monterrey in Tyler or La Mexicana's in Longview. (If you would rather do online shopping, Amazon can help you out here.)
  • Spices for the masa mix. If my memory serves me correctly, you'll need some cumin, peppercorns, and bay leaves.
  • Pork Butt. Ya gotta have the pork butt to make supremely yummy pork tamales. No questions asked. YouTube has spoken.
  • A great tortilla press. I checked out the ones in local stores, but I saw wooden ones and aluminum ones. I want cast-iron tortilla presses. I ordered one on Amazon yesterday and it should be delivered to my front door by the end of the first week of October. I. Am. So. Excited.
  • Some good lard. I like Armour Lard, which you can find cheaply at Walmart.
  • Finally, you'll need a good batch of corn husks and a stockpot. Soak the husks in some water the night before you want to make them. Make sure you get a strainer that fits inside your stockpot so that you can stack the tamales and steam them properly.

When I was searching for the best masa mix to use for my first try at tamales, I searched the reviews of Maseca on Amazon. Some of the reviews were hilarious, as you will see below,

Maseca Corn Flour Amazon Reviews

 

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