These Panamanian tamales are originally a part of the Panamanian Christmas table, but you can enjoy them anytime. This dish comes with a special touch in Panama, where the leaf of a plant called Bijao is used to wrap the contents of the dish, giving it a more authentic appearance as well as also adding delicious variety to the tradition of its making.
Ingredients:
- 12 Ears of Sweet Corn
- 1/2 Cup Of Cornmeal
- 2 Pounds Of Pork
- Salt And Pepper To Taste
- 1 Medium Onion
- 5 Cloves Of Garlic
- 1 Can Of Sweet Peas
- 3 Tablespoons Of Tomato Sauce
- 5 Coriander Leaves
- Capers
- Olives (optional)
- 2 oz Raisins
- 5 Red And 2 Yellow Sweet Peppers
- 3 Tablespoon Of Tomato Sauce
- Leaves of Plantain
Prep time: 1 hour 55 min.
Total time: 2 horas 55 min.
Servings: 10
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Directions:
Wash the vegetables, cut the onion and the chili, peel the garlic cloves and the coriander. Place them in a blender. Liquefy everything.
Add a tablespoon of pepper and salt to taste to the previously washed pork meat. Add all the liquefied vegetables. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for half an hour.
Once the meat is marinated, cook it for half an hour or a little more until it is soft.
Cut the plantain leaves to the size of 8 1/2″ x 11″ (letter size) for the outside leaf. For the plantain leaf that goes inside, use the same measurements. Once cut, wash the leaves and then boil until they change color. If you like, the other method is to do it with the flame of the stove (set on low) until it changes color and they are bendable. The second option is faster.
Apart from that, you are going to need food twine cut to the size of 35 inches.
Once the meat has been cooked for half an hour, take part (3 to 4 tablespoons) of the pork stew, reserve it separately to add it to the corn dough.
When the meat is soft and ready, remove it and break it into small pieces. Remove the bones from the meat. Add it to the stew again and the add 3 tablespoons of sauce, cook it for about 10 minutes and that’s it. Turn it off and save it for the tamales. (If necessary, add a little water to cook for another 10 minutes.)
In one bowl, put the raisins, and in another, put the capers and sweet peas. They will be ready to add to the dough when we make the tamales.
The corn is to be peeled and cut. Once ready, liquefy it little by little until it is thick, and add the mixture to a bowl and add the cornmeal little by little until it is at the thickness we want. Next, add 3 to 4 tablespoons of the sauce from the meat to the dough, then mix it and add salt to taste. Once it is ready, we can begin to form our tamales.
Add 2 tablespoons of the corn dough in the middle of the leaf. Also place 2 to 3 pieces of pork, add a little of the sauce and add raisins to taste, the peas and 2 to 3 capers. The plantain leaf will be folded two-sided, then fold top and bottom, to the bottom (lying down). Lay it down on the second leaf and complete all the folds again. Close the tamal with the twine.
When all our tamales are ready, place them in a pot with plenty of boiling water. Add salt and cook the tamales for an hour. Once ready, open the leaves and enjoy. You can add spices to these tamales when they are ready.
Mmm… delicious!
Enjoy!
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