(Tamales de Guajolote con Mole Negro)
Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Zarela Martinez's book The Food and Life of Oaxaca: Traditional Recipes from Mexico's Heart. Martinez also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page.
These are one of the most renowned Oaxacan classics: succulent banana-leaf tamales with a fluffy pillow of masa infused with the rich flavors of black mole and shredded cooked turkey. The meat has to be cooked by a moist-heat method, or it will be tasteless and dry, so I don't recommend using leftover roast turkey. Simmer pieces of turkey in liquid and use the most flavorful parts, not the white breast meat.
Though the black mole version of turkey tamales is best-known, the dish is equally good with Mole Rojo, Coloradito, or Amarillo.
•Banana leaves can be found frozen in Latin American grocery stores. Martinez recommends buying an extra package in case many are too badly split to use (which is fairly common).
•For this recipe, the mole paste should be thinned to the consistency of a creamy soup before measuring. To get 1 1/2 cups sauce, use approximately 1/2 cup mole paste and 1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade (see below). The mole recipe makes approximately 4 cups of paste — the remainder can be frozen and used as a sauce for turkey or chicken.
•Oaxacan lard has a distinctive, nutty taste and semi-liquid consistency that are a far cry from the fluffy, hydrogenated commercial products available in the U.S. In tamales, where lard is a principal ingredient, the difference is huge. According to Martinez, lard made at small Latin American or Eastern European butcher shops makes a decent substitute, but rendering it yourself will produce the best results. To home-render lard, start with 3 pounds fresh (not salted or smoked) pork fat, cut into 1/2-inch dice (chilling or partially freezing the fat will make this task less messy). Place the fat in a large, deep roasting pan or shallow Dutch oven with thick sides, taking care not to crowd the pieces together. Cook over low heat, stirring often, 20 to 30 minutes, until the fat is partially rendered and the diced pieces are somewhat crisp but not completely cooked. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool slightly. Pour off the clear liquid into a tall, narrow container and set aside the cracklings and any grainy residue. The residue, called asiento, makes a delicious spread on tortillas. The cracklings can be further rendered to produce a second batch of nuttier lard. (For more information, consult Martinez's web site, www.zarela.com.) You should have about 3 cups of clear, pale-tan lard. Refrigerate until solid, cover tightly, and store up to a week in the refrigerator or indefinitely in the freezer.
•Masa is a dough made from dried corn that has been treated with an alkali substance such as slaked lime and water and then ground. Fresh masa, which will give this recipe an authentic flavor and texture, can be found at some Mexican grocery stores and at tortilla factories. Because it can be labeled in many different ways, masa can be confusing to buy. Several things to bear in mind are: 1). Be sure to buy course-ground masa (labeled "masa para tamales") not fine-ground masa, which is for tortillas, not tamales. But also avoid masa labeled "masa preparada para tamales," which has lard already mixed in. 2). If you can't find fresh masa, you can reconstitute it by mixing masa harina (dehydrated powdered masa, also called corn flour or "instant corn masa mix for tamales") with water or chicken stock. The brand Maseca, available at www.mexgrocer.com, is the most authentic. The Quaker brand, available at many grocery stores, is also acceptable, but be sure to buy the coarse-ground "Masa Harina de Maiz," not the fine-ground "Harina Preparada Para Tortillas." 3). Regular corn meal cannot be substituted for masa.
•Clickhere here for a recipe for chicken stock. If you prefer not to make your own, Martinez recommends the brands College Inn or Kitchen Basics.
