How to Fold Handmade Tamales

Your family and friends will be thrilled with these fresh homemade tamales. Making tamales at home requires time, but minimal effort. And the flavor is worth the hours of preparation and cooking. This article concerns folding the tamales.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Large stockpot with steamer insert
• Kitchen tongs
• Above ingredients
• Damp towel

Handmade Tamales, the Folding

1. When you are ready to make the tamales, take 1 corn husk and dry it off with a towel.

2. Lay out the husk so the husk curls up. Spread the husk out with the cut end closest to you.

3. Take a rounded tablespoon of dough and place it onto the bottom half of the husk. Using either a flat spatula or your wet hands, evenly spread out the dough onto the bottom half of the husk. Spread the dough as close as 1/2-inch from the sides of the husk.

4. Leave the top 2 inches of the husk clear of the dough.

5. You should now have a layer of dough approximately ¼-inch thick. On the dough, spread a teaspoon of filling in a line approximately 1 inch wide. Leave some uncovered dough on either side of the strip of filling so that the dough will seal around the filling.

6. Turn the husk a quarter turn to the right. The cut end of the husk should be on the right.

7. Grasp the side of the husk nearest to you. Gently fold the edge upwards until the dough and filling have rolled over onto themselves. Continue rolling upwards until the whole husk has been rolled.

8. With the seam of the rolled tamale down, the part of the husk without dough should be on the left. Fold that part of the husk over the tamale.

9. Place the rolled tamale with the fold on the bottom to keep the tamale together.

10. Continue folding the tamales until you have used all of your ingredients.

11. To steam your tamales, make certain you have a steamer insert for a large stockpot that is at least 4-inches deep.

12. Pour 2 cups of water into the bottom of the stock pot. Begin heating the water on high heat.

13. While the water is heating, arrange the tamales in the steamer insert so they stand upright with the folded edge on the bottom of the steamer.

14. Once all of the tamales are in the steamer, cover the tamales with a damp kitchen towel.

15. Place the steamer into the stockpot and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid.

16. Reduce the heat of the pot to medium-low heat.

17. Let the tamales steam for at least 2 hours in the stockpot. Check the water level of the simmering water every 20 minutes to ensure that the pot doesn’t boil dry. Add more water when necessary.

18. Check the tamales after 2 hours of steaming. Take 1 tamale out with a pair of kitchen tongs and peel away the corn husk. The husk should not stick to the tamale dough. If the dough still sticks to the husk, return the tamale to the steamer and steam for an additional 10 minutes.

19. Once the tamales are finished steaming, serve them immediately; they are best at this point.

Tips & Warnings

• If you use your hands to spread the tamale dough, make certain to wet your hands with some water before handling the dough, so the dough will not stick to your hands.
• Consider using chicken stock and water as your steaming liquid. This will make the tamales more flavorful than if you use plain water.
• When handling just-steamed tamales, be aware that they are very hot. Kitchen tongs are wonderful for removing tamales from the pot and serving them.
• Please refer to the related articles section for different tamale filling ideas in "How to Make Handmade Tamale Meat Filling."

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