Destination
Puerto Vallarta
The story
Tamales Oaxaqueños are the tamal you order at a Oaxacan mercado for breakfast on a Sunday: flat, wide, wrapped in a banana leaf (never in a corn husk like the CDMX version), filled with a smear of mole negro or amarillo and a piece of shredded chicken, steamed for two hours until the masa is silky and the filling has bled its colour into the corn. They're heavier and more solid than the fluffy corn-husk tamales you know from Mexico City — the Oaxacan masa is denser, wetter, softer, and the banana leaf imparts a specific vegetal flavour that a corn husk cannot. Sold at every Oaxacan mercado, especially first thing in the morning; a stall that's still selling tamales at 11am is a stall to be suspicious of.
Method
Combine chicken, onion, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, salt and water in a pot. Simmer 25 minutes until cooked through. Lift out and shred with two forks. Strain and reserve the broth.
Warm the lard in a heavy pan. Whisk in the mole paste and cook 3 minutes to bloom the flavours. Slowly pour in the stock while whisking. Add the chopped chocolate and salt. Simmer 15 minutes to thicken to a heavy sauce. Fold half the mole into the shredded chicken; reserve the rest for serving.
In a large bowl, beat the softened lard with a spoon or hand mixer for 3 minutes until fluffy and pale. Add the masa harina, baking powder and salt; mix. Slowly pour in the warm broth while stirring. Beat 5 more minutes until the masa is smooth, spreadable and fluffy — the texture of soft frosting. A pinch dropped in water should float; if it sinks, beat more.
Pass each banana leaf briefly over a flame or hot pan (2 seconds a side) to soften and release aroma. Wipe with a damp cloth. Cut into rectangles about 25 x 20cm.
Lay a banana leaf rectangle shiny-side up. Spread 3 tbsp of masa in a 12 x 8cm rectangle in the middle, leaving borders. Spoon 1 tbsp of the mole-chicken mixture down the centre. Fold the two long sides of the leaf over the filling, then fold in the two short ends to make a parcel. Set seam-down. Repeat until you have 20 tamales.
Fill a large steamer (or a pot with a steamer basket) with 5cm of water. Line the basket with extra banana leaves. Arrange tamales in stacked layers, seam-down. Cover with more banana leaves and a heavy lid. Steam for 90 minutes to 2 hours, topping up water every 30 minutes, until the masa is set and pulls cleanly from the leaf when tested.
Turn off the heat and rest the tamales in the steamer, covered, for 15 minutes. This lets the masa firm up.
Set two tamales on each plate, still in their banana leaves. Diners unwrap themselves. Spoon extra warm mole negro over the top. Top with pickled red onion and coriander. Serve with hot chocolate or atole on the side.
Tips
- Whip the masa well. This is the single most important step. Under-whipped masa gives you dense, heavy tamales; properly whipped masa is light and pillowy. Ten minutes of beating is not too much.
- The masa float test. A pinch of properly whipped masa dropped into a glass of cold water should float. If it sinks, keep beating.
- Banana leaves, never corn husks. This is the Oaxacan marker. Corn husks (hoja de maíz) are the CDMX and Norteño wrap; banana leaves are Oaxacan and Veracruzan. Do not substitute.
- Mole from a jar is fine. Making mole negro from scratch is a 4-hour project with 30 ingredients. A good jarred mole (Guelaguetza brand or Doña María) plus a piece of chocolate and some chicken stock gets you 90% of the way.
- Freeze extras. Steamed tamales freeze beautifully, still wrapped. Reheat directly from frozen in a steamer for 20 minutes. Every Oaxacan freezer has a stash.
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