Corn is the foundation of Mexican cooking and a key part of Mexican heritage and identity. The ancient Aztecs engineered a way to process corn called nixtamalization, resulting in the savory masa used to make tortillas and all their delicious derivatives. While most corn masa is dry cooked on a comal or deep fried into empanadas, tamales fashion corn masa into comforting steamed dumplings. With the help of lard, corn masa becomes a rich, firm yet fluffy dumpling filled with savory meat, cheese, vegetables, or even sweets.
Lard is another important ingredient used to add flavor and fluffiness to dishes like flour tortillas, refried beans, empanadas, and churros. If you don't have lard, vegetable shortening is an ideal substitute. Made from hydrogenated vegetable oil, vegetable shortening has the same congealed, gel-like consistency and white hue as lard and emulsifies just as easily into corn masa. Most importantly, vegetable shortening has the same effect on the texture of tamales, acting to bind the masa while also giving tamales their characteristic moist, pillowy, and tender bite. Shortening has a neutral flavor that won't interfere with the savory earthiness of the corn masa or its myriad savory, spicy, and sweet fillings. Plus, you don't need to make any measurement adjustments when substituting lard for shortening as the two are often used interchangeably in recipes like biscuits, pie crusts, and pastries.
Other Lard Substitutes And Tips For Making Tamales
Vegetable shortening is a meat-free and dairy-free substitute for lard, allowing you to serve tamales to meat eaters and vegans alike. That said, there are other substitutes for lard that will work well in tamale recipes as well, like refined coconut oil, butter, and avocado oil. Chicken fat and bacon fat will supply a similar flavor profile to lard but aren't as easy to buy off grocery store shelves.
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Tamales are a special treat and a classic Christmas dish in Mexican households because they're a tedious labor of love. Tamale dough is sticky and wet but has a propensity to fall apart during cooking and dry out or harden during storage. Consequently, it's important to ensure that you thoroughly cover the entire surface area of each tamale with corn husks, using two or more to overlap each other if necessary. Furthermore, you'll need to soak the corn husks so that they are pliable enough to fold without crumbling or cracking.
You'll fold the corn husks burrito-style to create the classic rectangular-shaped tamales. Like a burrito, you'll need to leave a substantial perimeter of masa surrounding a tablespoon or two of sweet or savory filling. Tamales taste the best fresh from the steamer as they tend to dry up the longer they sit out. If you have leftovers, reheat them in their husks in a steamer or saucepan filled with an inch of water and covered over low heat for around 20 minutes.
Vegetable shortening is a meat-free and dairy-free substitute for lard, allowing you to serve tamales to meat eaters and vegans alike. That said, there are other substitutes for lard that will work well in tamale recipes as well, like refined coconut oil, butter, and avocado oil.
Choosing between shortening and lard comes down to personal preference. Both create a flaky, tender crust, are semi-solid, and are 100% fat. Swap one for the other in recipes. If you want to add additional flavor to the dish, lard is the right choice.
Lard makes tastier and fluffier tamales than other fats do. You can replace the lard with solid fats, like duck fat or shortening, to obtain a similar texture; butter and liquid oils work but will make a denser masa.
Oil: The oil flavors the dough and keeps the masa from becoming too dry and pasty. While many recipes use lard or shortening, this recipe calls for corn oil, which is healthier and better tasting, in my opinion.
The best choice of fat depends on the situation! If you're making a food that can use olive oil, then go with the olive oil to get the most unsaturated fats. But if the choice is between lard and a vegetable shortening (like in the case of tamales or baked goods), lard may be the healthier choice.
The big three ingredients are masa, lard and beef. The masa and lard will make the base of the tamale dough, in a ratio of 5 pounds masa to 1 pound lard. The beef will make the filling, and should weigh 5 pounds before it gets cooked to every 5 pounds masa.
Let them sit in the steaming basket with the lid off for around 30 minutes. This additional time allows the interior to firm up a bit and the tamales to cool off.
Your masa should be about the consistency of peanut butter. If it's too dry, mix in a little more water or broth; if your dough is too loose, add more masa harina until you get the desired texture.
If you would like to use oil instead of shortening for your masa for tamales, it's no problem at all. Using oil is also a slightly healthier way of making tamales masa. Use vegetable oil and use 3/4 cups to 1 cup vegetable oil instead of the 1 cup of shortening used in my recipe.
Most commercially available pork lard is hydrogenated, which means it contains trans fats. Even if a lard product is labeled as having zero trans fats, it still can contain these dangerous fatty acids. Manufacturers can say 'zero trans fats' as long as there are less than 0.5 grams per serving.
Cooking the tamales improperly can also lead to lackluster results. Tamales are usually steamed, and timing is everything. If you cook them for too long, the masa inside will be tough, and the filling will be dry.
The main difference between lard and shortening is what they're made from—lard is made out of animal fat while shortening is made from hydrogenated vegetable oil. Lard: Lard is a semi-solid cooking fat made from pork fat.
Braising pork in lard makes carnitas soft and tender. Rather than lard, I substituted with vegetable shortening and used only a couple of tablespoons. You do not need gallons of lard and a huge copper cauldron in order to make authentic, delicious, and tender carnitas.
Crisco makes a very solid and well formed general crust for most pies.Lard makes a crisp crust great for fruit and custard pies but lack a bit for meat pies and cobblers in my opinion. Tallow or beef fat pies are great for soft crusts for meat pies but will soak up too much liquid for fruit or custards.
This is probably because you're either undercooking them or oversteaming them. If your tamales seem mushy right after cooking, giving them some resting time can make a big difference. Freshly steamed tamales often feel soft and mushy, but they typically firm up as they cool for about 10 minutes.
Introduction: My name is Clemencia Bogisich Ret, I am a super, outstanding, graceful, friendly, vast, comfortable, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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