It’s National Tamale Day this week! Tamales are such a delicious, wonderful treasure enjoyed by people all around the US and the world. Made with masa and stuffed with fillings like meats, vegetables, cheese and even fruits, they’re truly worth celebrating with their own national food day. After all, why not remind everyone just how amazing tamales are? After all, tamales are not just a food. They represent times of gathering friends and families together in the kitchen to assemble them. It’s a timeless bonding experience that holds great meaning to many households. Besides Christmas, National Tamale Day is the perfect excuse to enjoy these scrumptious pockets of joy. We’ve had our fair share of tamales with Spicy Pork Tamales and Chicken and Corn Tamales. This year, we’re adding to our recipe collection with these traditional Red Chile Beef Tamales! Tender, shredded beef mixed with spicy sauce made from New Mexico Chiles, ancho chiles and more, this recipe is worthy of any National Tamale Day celebration!
Tamales are a simple, no-fuss dish that you’d find in Mom’s kitchen or at a festive celebration. However, the process of making them is a time-consuming task that’s usually reserved for family and friends to work on as a team. Before assembling your tamales, you must soak your dried corn husks in water to make them pliable. Making the masa dough is also another task to undertake, which involves mixing dried corn meal and seasonings together. With ready-to-use corn husks and Corn Masa Mix, Melissa’s Tamale Kit takes out both of these extra steps so that you can enjoy fresh, authentic tamales in about an hour. Everything you need to create this beloved recipe as well as any other kinds of tamales is conveniently located in this kit.
Red Chile Beef Tamales
Yields: 3 dozen tamales
Ingredients
- 3 packages of Melissa’s Tamale Kits, includes
- 12 corn husks
- 12.5 oz corn masa mix
- 2 pounds of beef shoulder roast
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1 head of garlic, cloves peeled
- 4 oz of Dried New Mexico Chiles
- 2 oz of Dried Pasilla Chiles
- 2 oz of Dried Ancho Chiles
- 2 tablespoons of cumin seeds, toasted
- 1 tablespoon of salt
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the Corn Masa Mix with water. Let the mixture sit until it thickens to a paste-like consistency.
2. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Place it in a large pot over medium heat and brown. Once the meat has browned, add water to submerge it on all sides. Add 1 of the onions and 6 cloves of garlic. Cook for around 2 hours until the meat is fork tender.
3. Once the meat has cooked, remove from the heat to cool off. Once cooled, use your hands or a couple of forks to shred.
4. Make the red chile sauce. Pull off the tops of the dried chiles to remove the seeds. Place the chiles in a stockpot with water, cumin, the other onion and the remaining garlic. Boil for around 20 minutes.
5. Remove the chiles from the pot and place into a blender. Add some of the chile water in batches. Puree the mixture until smooth. Then place the chiles into a strainer to remove any extra seeds and skins.
6. Pour the sauce into a bowl and mix with salt to taste. Then add the beef and mix with the sauce thoroughly. Refrigerate the beef until ready to use.
7. Assemble the tamales. Lay out your corn husks. Divide the masa batter into 12 equal portions and spread evenly onto the corn husks. Leave about 2 inches of space from the edges.
8. Then add a layer of the beef on top of the masa mix.
9. Fold the sides of the tamales over and then fold the bottom upwards.
10. Place the tamales into a steamer pot standing upwards over boiling water.
11. Lower the heat to medium-low and steam the tamales covered for an hour.
12. Once the tamales have finished cooking, allow to cool slightly. Open up the corn husks and serve with a side of Hatch Chile Salsa and Authentic Mild Guacamole.