CookingDiva

Today we are featuring the recipe in English to prepare traditional panamanian tamales from green corn. This recipe was graciously designed by Panamanian Chef Jorge Jurado, Executive Chef from Artisan Catering in Panama City, Panama. He is a great chef and like me, his "tamale" experience goes back to childhood family memories. The photos featured here were taken by moi. Sometime in the next week I will post the recipe en Español and will feature photos from Chef Jurado's work.

We have tried to make this a very inviting, easy process that infects you with the "tropical bug" so you can prepare this homemade tamales. Once you have tried them, you would never go back to corn flour!

Tamal de Maiz Nuevo

Yield: 24 tamalitos, or 12 tamales

Ingredients:

• 24 ears of green corn (young)
• 1/4 cup melted lard or butter
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 8 "culantro" leaves
• 12 aji criollo (this is a Panamanian variety of small, very aromatic peppers.) Substitute 2 bell peppers if necessary.
• 1 tablespoon "achiote paste" (to add color, optional)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Husk the corn, cut off the kernels and grind them in a manual grinder or food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
2. Place a large spoonful of the mixture in the center of a previously cleaned banana leaf or bijao leaf. Add the filling of your choice and fold the sides to wrap the mixture in a square packet and secure with a thin cord or thread.
3. Continue until all the tamales are wrapped and place them in a large pot with boiling water with salt and cook for one hour. Remove from the water and serve warm.

Keep tamales refrigerated for no more than three days. If you are not going to consume them immediately, freeze them for up to 1 month. To re-heat: thaw them in the fridge overnight and boil until warm. Remove from the leaves and serve immediately. You can also heat them in the microwave, but they tend to get tough that way.

Pork Filling:

• 2 lb pork meat, cut in cubes
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup green pepper, chopped
• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 5-6 culantro leaves
• Salt and chopped habanero pepper to taste
• raisins (optional)
• prunes (optional)
• 24 stuffed olives (optional)

Directions: Brown the pork meat in a hot pan with some lard or olive oil. Add the onion and other ingredients and mix in with 6 cups of water. Simmer until tender and sauce reduced to a half. Cool and reserve. 

Chicken Filling:

• 1 free range chicken (5-7 lbs)
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup green pepper, chopped
• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 5-6 culantro leaves
• salt and chopped habanero pepper to taste
• raisins (optional)
• Capers (optional)
• prunes (optional)
• 24 stuffed olives (optional)

Directions: Cut the chicken in pieces and brown them in a hot pan with some lard or olive oil. Add the onion and other ingredients and mix in with 6 cups of water. Simmer until tender and sauce reduced to a half. Cool, remove chicken from the bones and reserve.

Happy Cooking!

Chef M

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First: Find some good dry corn, the kind that has the "germ." Place it in a container with some water and cover it with plastic wrap. Open a few holes on the plastic so it can breathe and germination begins. Check it out every day, shake the container a little bit and add more water if it seems too dry. After 2-3 days it should have sprouted.

Second: Grind the corn sprouts and place in a deep pan with water to cover. Simmer for 3-4 hours. Then, ferociously press the mixture through a sieve. Then put the liquid back on a deep pan, add molasses to taste, thin with water if it seems too thick and simmer for 1 more hour.

Third: Let the mixture cool to room temperature and then bottle it and serve cold.

Fourth: IF, and only if, you want to feel the tropical beat, heat up your ears a little notch, THEN, leave the concoction out, covered, at room temperature to ferment a couple of days. If you choose to ferment it, please take note of the very important issue we address next.

Disclaimer: do not attempt to juggle knives, ride a bicycle, or do anything important after imbibition of this beverage. It is for nutritional use only. The management is not responsible for your obscene and irrational behavior.

Un abrazo!

Melissa

Tags: corn, food blogs, cookingdiva, cooking, panama, recipes, food & drink, food

Un desayuno tradicional

En el campo, la tortilla de maíz es un plato muy importante en la jornada diaria de los campesinos, la cual acompañada con un cafecito colado, conforma el alimento más importante del día. En muchos casos, y debido a la escacés económica, este será su único alimento para el día, la fuente de energía para su trabajo en el campo.

Para preparar la tortilla tradicional, normalmente es la mujer la que se levanta muy temprano y cocina el maíz hasta que alcance el “punto de tortilla: ni muy duro, ni muy suave”. Luego se muele el maíz en el molino de hierro tradicional de mano, colocando la masa en una vasija en la cual se le pone su punto de sal y agua si es necesario, para luego amasar a mano hasta que la masa sea homogénea y suave. Generalmente es cuando la masa “echa aire”, cuando está en el punto para hacer las tortillas. Es entonces cuando se hacen bolas de masa similares en tamaño, dándole forma con las manos, según muestra la foto. Después se frien en aceite vegetal caliente hasta que estén doraditas por ambos lados, se colocan sobre papel toalla para que absorba el exceso de aceite y se sirve caliente, enseguida!

Para preparar la tortilla con plátano, una vez que hemos molido el maíz, rallamos un plátano amarillo firme aún y unimos muy bien…todo. Luego se agrega el punto de sal y agua si es necesario y se amasa como indica la receta del párrafo anterior.

Muchas gracias Adriana por preparar las tortillas y a Javier por tomar las fotos, y a Uds. todos por tomar el tiempo invertido en leer este post, aprender y compartir esta tradición con otros. No duden en contactarnos con sus preguntas y sugerencias!
Buen provecho y bendiciones!

Los invitamos a preparar también las siguientes recetas tradicionales de Panamá:

• Tamales Panamanian Style (EN)
• Tamal de Maíz Nuevo Paso a Paso (ES)
• Bollos Chorreranos con Chicharrón (Video / ES)
• Chicha de Maíz (EN)

Chef Melissa