On Panamanian Tamales
I’ve done this recipe before on my cooking blog… but I tweaked it to include actual measurements!
I’ve done this recipe before on my cooking blog… but I tweaked it to include actual measurements!
I love, love, love, Panamanian Tamales. In Panama I don’t remember having them often, mainly at Christmastime at friends homes. Now I know it’s because in Panama most people make them from scratch, cooking and grinding the green corn.
I love to make them at Christmas or New Year’s Eve. I freeze the leftover turkey and use that instead of chicken or pork for the filling and it is always good. This year I didn’t get around to making them until this week, and that was with my sweet hubby prodding me to do them.
“Did you buy Masa yet?”
“What can I do to help?”
Guess he really wanted those tamales too.
I sort of follow this recipe from the Cooking Diva (Chef Melissa DeLeon’s) website.
I never follow any recipe to the letter though, so here’s sort of what I do:
Find some banana, bijao, or platanillo leaves. (NOT easy in Arkansas.) We can get them only at Christmastime at our local Mexican grocery store, but they aren’t usually very fresh and I have to really clean and pick through them. Not to mention they are expensive. This is a major factor in good tamales though so without them I wouldn’t attempt it. Gives it that special flavor!
*Note- I found out the “banana” tree I planted in my yard this year was a platanillo from a Mexican friend of mine. I let the frost kill it without harvesting the leaves, but next year I’ll save some and make them right before the frost!
Masa part:
I don’t do the grinding the green corn to make my own masa. Sorry. I am not a purist with this and just buy Masa from the grocery store. There are no directions on the bag, and Chef Melissa IS a purist and grinds her own corn, so I’ve made this part up over the years and it works really well.
Filling:
I use leftover turkey but you can use chicken, pork, or veggies also…
1 medium onion chopped finely
1 green pepper chopped finely
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 can of Muir Glen chopped tomatoes
3-4 Tablespoons of tomato paste
1-2 culantro (NOT cilantro) leaves if you have them chopped *I can’t get them so don’t do this.
but I do add a packet of Goya Sazon and 2-3 Tablespoons of Goya’s Recaito, which seems to give it that flavor.
capers (I love capers)
1 can of tomato sauce or some tomato paste with water if you want (or you can just add broth here)
green olives (chopped or not, your preference)
handful of golden raisins or chopped prunes (if you want-very Spanish flavor if you do)
salt and pepper to taste
Construction:
Normally I struggle with wrapping these myself using old leaves which are fragile. My wonderful hubby helped this time and proved to be a better tamale maker than myself. Think he’ll get the job from now on!
*Leftovers freeze very well. You can wrap in waxed paper and then put in a baggie or wrap with aluminum foil and just microwave one when you want one!