Green Chile Pork Tamales
Updated on by Villa Cocina
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Green Chile Pork Tamales
Green chile pork tamales —soft, silky masa wrapped around tender pork in a green salsa, each bite feels like unwrapping a gift.
Ingredients
Servings: 25 ea
Cook the Pork
- 4 lbs pork shoulder roast, bone-in
- Liberally salt and black pepper
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 10 cups water
- 1 head garlic, slice end off
- 1 white onion, halved
- 3 bay leaves
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
Green Sauce
- 1 lb tomatillos
- 4 poblano peppers
- 2 jalapeños
- 1/2 white onion
- 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 4 whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp whole allspice
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 3 cups warm pork broth
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- To taste salt
Corn Husk
- 26 corn husk, + 15 additional
Masa Dough
- 6 cups masa harina
- To taste kosher salt, (2 1/2 tsp)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup pork lard
- 1 cup avocado oil
- 2 cups green sauce, reserved
- 2-3 cups warm pork broth
Steamer Pot
- 10 cups water
Instructions
- Cook the pork: Cut around the bone and remove it. Now, cut the meat into large pieces. Generously season all sides with salt and ground black pepper, including the bone.
- Instant pot: Set the instant pot on HIGH SAUTE mode for 20 MINUTES. You can add more time, if you run out. Press START. Once hot, pour in the avocado oil. Brown the meat and bone. Don’t over crowd the pot, be patient and do it in batches. Press CANCEL. Place all the pork back into the pot, including the bone. Pour in the water, garlic, onion, bay leaves and cilantro. COVER, secure the lid and cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 45 MINUTES, with a 10 MINUTE NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE. After the natural pressure release is done, QUICK RELEASE the remaining pressure. Press CANCEL and remove the lid.
- Carefully remove the pork from the pot. Remove and discard the onion, garlic, and herbs. Strain the broth into a heat proof container, let it cool down and reserve. Remove any meat from the bone and discard it. Shred all of the meat and set aside until needed.
- Green sauce/salsa: Place a comal over medium to medium-high heat. Roast the poblanos and jalapeños until charred/blacked on all sides. As soon as they are ready, transfer into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow them to sweat for about 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, roast and cook the tomatillos, onion, and garlic. Some ingredients will take longer than others, remove them as soon as they look ready. And, let them slightly cool down.
- Corn Husks: Sort through the husks and pick the ones you need, medium-large in size. And, without holes or many dark spots. Soak in warm water for 15-30 minutes, place a plate on top to keep submerged. Then, rinse, remove corn silk, and drain.
- Blend the sauce: Peel the skin from the peppers. Cut them open to remove the seeds and stem. Removing the seeds is optional because they encourage a spicier sauce but it’s a very personal choice. Transfer the peppers into a blender, along with the rest of the roasted ingredients; but first, remove the stem from the onion and peel from the garlic. Toast the cloves, all spice and cumin over medium heat until aromatic. Transfer into the blender along with the oregano, cilantro and broth. Blend until completely smooth. Reserve two cups of the sauce for the masa. Heat the oil over medium heat and carefully pour in the rest of the sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in the salt and then the shredded meat. Turn off the heat and let the filling cool down completely.
- Masa-Dough: In a large bowl combine the corn masa harina, salt and baking powder until well distributed. In a separate large bowl, beat the lard with a whisk or by hand until smooth, and fluffy. Takes 2-5 minutes depending on the method. Mix the oil gradually, as you stir continuously. Mix in half of the masa mixture. Then, incorporate the other half. By the end it should resemble the texture of wet sand. Knead in the green sauce, and feel free to use kitchen gloves just incase those peppers turned out spicy.
- Gradually add the broth, and knead in between additions. Stop adding broth once it forms a mass, feels very soft, holds its shape, and is fully moistened. Could take more or less broth depending on the temperature in the environment and broth itself . Now knead the masa for 5 minutes. The end result should feel way too soft to make a tortilla, because we are pushing for a lot of moisture. But, it will hold its shape. Cover with a kitchen towel to prevent it from drying out.
- Click on the link HOW TO WRAP TAMALES for the full step by step directions.
- Cook the tamales: We need a large steamer pot. Pour in a generous amount of water and stop right before you reach the rack. Cover the rack with a few husks. Now, place three tamales in the form of a T, open side in the center to act as the base. Arrange the rest of the tamales all around, open side up. Cover them completely with husks. Let the water reach a boil over medium-high heat. Cover the pot, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 50 minutes to 1 hr 10 minutes, or until the dough is fully cooked.
- Check for doneness : Remove a tamal from the pot and let it cool down for 5-10 minutes. Then, unwrap it. They are done, if it releases easily from the husk, sets up, and does not taste like raw masa. Turn off the heat, keep the pot covered and ENJOY!
Did you make this recipe?
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Elton
these look amazing and I’m going to try and make them today but I have a question the red pork tamales recipe make the same amount and this recipe requires twice the meat. are they just bigger or am I missing something?
Villa Cocina
Update: My apologies for the confusion. Green pork tamales may seem like they require more meat, but in reality, the extra weight comes from the bone. Red pork tamales, on the other hand, use boneless meat. Hope this helps!
Gary Klucken
Wow! Combine this with servings of home made pork pozole and I may be able to describe the taste of heaven!
Villa Cocina
Two MAJOR Classics!
Paulette
Thèse tamales sound absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to make them!
Is it ok to cook the pork, make the sauce, and prepare the masa in advance then do the assembly and cooking a day or two later?
Villa Cocina
Absolutely, you can make the filling ahead of time—no problem! Just keep in mind that if the filling is cold when assembling, the tamales might need a bit more steaming time, but nothing to worry about.
As for the masa, I don’t recommend making it in advance—it tends to change consistency. Fresh masa is best for texture and flavor.
Anthony Antram
So I made these but I did not have any poblano peppers so I substituted with a big can (I doubled the recipe) of green chiles. I have to say this was really good. But my question is about the onion.it says 1 ea (im.assuming each?) white onion, half…for the pork and then 1/2 ea white onion for the sauce. Are you saying I need one onion all together, but split between the two? Or one onion split and half for the pork and then another half of white onion for the sauce? Which would be one and a half onions total. Just curious. Either way, the recipe turned out great and I will be using this again. In fact , my stepson asked me specifically for this recipe. That’s how much of a hit it was at our house. Thank you!
Villa Cocina
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I meant to say ‘halved’—I’ll be more specific. It’s a total of 1 1/2 white onions. So glad you made it work—and that it was a hit!