Christmas tamales · The tamalada

Red chile pork filling for tamales

3 hours, mostly simmering (make it a day ahead) · makes enough for about 2 dozen tamales

A photo like it · Sarah Stierch, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Christmas classic: pork shoulder simmered until it falls apart, then folded into a red sauce of dried guajillo and ancho chiles. The broth it cooks in is the best liquid for the masa.

You need

• 2 lb (900 g) boneless pork shoulder, cut in 3-inch chunks
• 3/4 white onion (half for the pot, a quarter for the sauce)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 6 dried guajillo chiles
• 2 dried ancho chiles
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
• 1 tablespoon lard or vegetable oil

How to make it

1. Put the pork, the half onion, 2 whole garlic cloves, the bay leaves and the salt in a pot and cover with water by an inch. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam, then simmer gently, partly covered, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the pork shreds with a fork.
2. While it simmers, pull the stems and seeds out of the dried chiles. Toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat for 20 to 30 seconds a side, just until they smell toasty; don't let them blacken or the sauce turns bitter.
3. Put the chiles in a bowl, cover with very hot water and soak 20 minutes, until soft.
4. Lift the pork out of the pot and save the broth (strain it; it goes in the masa). Shred the pork with two forks.
5. Blend the drained chiles with the quarter onion, 2 garlic cloves, cumin, oregano and 1 1/2 cups of the pork broth until completely smooth, about a minute. Pour it through a strainer to catch the bits of skin.
6. Heat the lard in a wide pan over medium-high, pour in the sauce (it will spatter) and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until it darkens a shade.
7. Stir in the shredded pork and simmer 10 minutes, until the sauce coats the meat and isn't runny. Taste and add salt: it should be a little saltier than you'd eat it plain, because the masa mutes it.
8. Cool completely before filling. It keeps 3 days in the fridge.

Good to know

• Bring the strained broth to the tamalada in a jar; whoever's making the masa will want it.
• Want it hotter? Toast and blend 2 to 4 chiles de árbol with the others.

Then fill and steam them: the masa, and how to fill, fold and steam.

The rest of the tamalada

Or order a dozen: 25 makers

Chef Amazing's own recipe. Save it and it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.