Go Back
Print
Corn Tamales: Corn Husks and Banana Leaves

Corn Tamales: Corn Husks and Banana Leaves

Makes 15 medium tamales. These can be appetizers, but are usually served as part of a main course. They can also be sweet and served as a snack or a dessert.
Course Main
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 8 -10
Author Valerie Lugonja and Chef Claudia

Ingredients

Ingredients for Tamale dough:

  • 10 ears fresh sweet yellow corn (8 cups frozen niblets)
  • ½ cup oil
  • ¼ cup butter , room temperature
  • ½ cup sugar (amount will vary depending upon the sweetness of the corn)
  • 2 cups corn flour (or tortilla mix)
  • ½ cup half and half of whole milk
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • Corn husks , fresh or dried store bought

Ingredients for Tamale filling:

  • 6 ounces Oaxaca cheese cut in strips (mozzarella will substitute)
  • 4 Japapeno peppers , stemmed, seeded, and cut into strips
  • OR thick marmalade , or canned pineapple, or quince paste
  • OR green salsa , or mole salsa and shredded chicken with mole sauce

Instructions

  1. If using dry husks, soak in cold water for 5 minutes; set aside
  2. If using banana leaves, thaw and cut into similar rectangle sizes
  3. Remove kernels from cobs; puree in food processor
  4. Combine oil and butter in bowl; using mixer, cream sugar, milk, salt into fat
  5. Add pureed corn, flour and baking powder to mixture in bowl; stir to combine (may take 10 minutes of beating)
  6. Take a teaspoon of paste and drop into glass of water: if it floats, it is ready

Filling husks:

  1. Pat husks dry; overlap 2 husks to fit mixture between them
  2. Spread 2 big tablespoons of mixture down centre of husks, forming a rectangle
  3. Place one cheese strip, or more, depending upon taste, in centre of filling; add two (more or less) chile strips to cheese, also depending upon taste
  4. Cover chile and cheese completely with filling by folding the husk over onto filling; tie with corn husk strip or string
  5. Repeat with remaining husks
  6. Place in steamer rack over boiling water; cover and steam 50 minutes, or until firm
  7. Serve immediately

Filling Banana Leaves:

  1. Pat leaves dry and cut into rectangles to determine large or small portion sizes; they may have linear tears in them that will be fine, when folded
  2. Spread 2 big tablespoons of mixture down centre of leaf, forming a rectangle
  3. Place shredded meat or vegetable filling in lower half of corn mixture; with paddle spatula, fold upper portion of the corn mixture over the filling, to cover completely
  4. Follow by folding banana leaf over corn mixture 1/3 of the way to ensure filling is completely enclosed in corn mixture; fold the bottom 1/3 up over the top
  5. Fold the ends of the banana leaf over the filling, one at a time, to form a package
  6. Repeat with remaining leaves
  7. Place in steamer rack over boiling water; cover and steam 50 minutes, or until firm
  8. Serve immediately

Instructions for the Thermomix:

  1. Remove kernels from cob or measure frozen corn into the TM bowl; puree for 30 seconds, speed 0-10 and then repeat, until desired consistency is reached (should be very fine)
  2. Scale oil, butter, sugar, milk, and salt into TM bowl on top of the corn; mix to combine at speed 0-4 for 10 seconds
  3. Scale flour and baking powder TM bowl; mix to combine at speed 0-4 for 20 to 30 seconds, then puree batter from 0-10 for 30 seconds 2 to three times, scrapping down the bowl and using the spatula to keep the batter near the blades while mixing
  4. Puree the mixture another couple of times for 10 seconds from speed 0-10
  5. Take a teaspoon of paste and drop into glass of water: if it floats, it is ready (wait 5 seconds to give it time to float)
  6. If not, continue to scrape down the bowl, and combine the batter