Plate 05 of 10

Tamales de Gallina

Name: Tamales de Gallina
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 210 min
Yield: 16 large ceremonial tamales
Cuisine: El Salvador
Ingredients: 1 kg Bone-in chicken thighs and breasts, cut into 16 uniform 60 g chunks; 600 g Precooked white corn flour for tamales; 1.8 L Rich chicken bone broth, hot; 200 g Rendered pure pork lard, or European butter; 60 ml Achiote oil; 20 g Fine sea salt; 4 g Cumin seeds, freshly toasted and ground; 600 g Ripe plum tomatoes, charred on the comal; 2 large Yellow onions — one quartered for the broth, one charred for the recado; 8 cloves Fresh garlic, minced to a paste; 1 large Green bell pepper, cored and charred; 45 g Raw pepitoria, toasted and ground fine; 30 g White sesame seeds, toasted and ground fine; 2 pieces Dried chile guaque, toasted and soaked in hot water; 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 16 rounds and parboiled 5 minutes; 150 g Cooked chickpeas, skins slipped off; 16 whole Pitted green Manzanilla olives; 1 large Red bell pepper, cut into 16 long thin strips; 2 kg Smoked banana leaves, cleaned, ribs trimmed, cut into 30 × 30 cm sheets; 1 roll Kitchen twine, or banana leaf fibre strips

Where a Mexican tamal whips raw masa with cold lard, the Salvadoran one cooks its dough on the stove first. Lard poured in at 75 °C coats each swelling starch granule in a lipid film that stops it cross-linking into a rubbery cake — which is why this sets into a custard that trembles on the fork.

Prep: 1 hr 30 min
Cook: 2 hr
Serves: 16 large ceremonial tamales
Difficulty: Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

An opened banana leaf holding a pale golden tamal split to show shredded chicken, potato pieces, a green olive and red sauce inside.

In El Salvador, Sunday mornings and Christmas belong to tamales de gallina.

Unlike the firm raw-whipped masa of Mexico, the Salvadoran tamal uses masa cocida — corn dough cooked down with rich chicken broth, rendered lard and sweet peppers until it turns into a velvety pudding. Inside sits a chunk of braised hen in spiced red recado, with potato slices, chickpeas, a green olive and a strip of sweet pepper.

Wrapped tightly in smoked banana leaves and steamed for two hours, the masa sets into a custard that trembles on the fork.

Ingredients

The chicken
1 kgBone-in chicken thighs and breasts, cut into 16 uniform 60 g chunks
The masa
600 gPrecooked white corn flour for tamales
1.8 LRich chicken bone broth, hot1.5 L into the masa, 250 ml into the recado
200 gRendered pure pork lard, or European butter
60 mlAchiote oil15 ml into the recado, the rest into the masa
20 gFine sea salt15 g into the masa, 5 g into the recado
4 gCumin seeds, freshly toasted and ground
The recado
600 gRipe plum tomatoes, charred on the comal
2 largeYellow onions — one quartered for the broth, one charred for the recado
8 clovesFresh garlic, minced to a pastefour of them charred for the recado
1 largeGreen bell pepper, cored and charred
45 gRaw pepitoria, toasted and ground fine
30 gWhite sesame seeds, toasted and ground fine
2 piecesDried chile guaque, toasted and soaked in hot water
The filling
2 mediumYukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 16 rounds and parboiled 5 minutes
150 gCooked chickpeas, skins slipped off
16 wholePitted green Manzanilla olives
1 largeRed bell pepper, cut into 16 long thin strips
To wrap
2 kgSmoked banana leaves, cleaned, ribs trimmed, cut into 30 × 30 cm sheets
1 rollKitchen twine, or banana leaf fibre strips

Cook the masa on the stove

Whisked with hot broth at 80–85 °C, the amylose and amylopectin swell and absorb liquid before anything is wrapped. Raw masa gives a grainy chalky tamal instead of a custard.

Lard at 75 °C, in a stream

Poured in while beating hard, it films each starch granule and stops the chains cross-linking into a rubbery cake. The masa should end up glossy and falling in heavy ribbons.

Banana leaves, not husks

Their natural oils and moisture keep a pre-cooked masa custardy, and their cuticular waxes and polyphenols perfume the dough with a herbal-tea aroma that corn husks cannot give.

Follow the ratios

600 g corn flour, 1.5 L broth, 200 g lard. Under-hydrated or under-fatted, the tamal comes out dry and crumbly.

Check the water every 45 minutes

A dry steamer scorches the bottom leaves and bitter smoke goes through every tamal in the pot.

Passive time, counted separately

The chillies soak, the potatoes parboil, and the steamed tamales rest 15 minutes before unwrapping. None of that is active work.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the seasoned bone broth, the lard-rich masa and the briny olives. Fat is pork lard and achiote oil dispersed through the corn starch matrix. Acid is charred tomato and sweet pepper against the lard. Heat is toasted cumin, fruity guaque and sweet garlic. Umami is concentrated broth, braised poultry fond, toasted pumpkin seed and olives.

Equipment

Comal or cast-iron skillet, for toasting and charring
Blender
8 qt pot and a wooden paddle, for the masa
16 to 20 qt stockpot with an elevated rack
Kitchen twine

Traditionally a large aluminium tamalera over wood embers. A 16-to-20 quart stockpot with a raised rack works in a modern kitchen — bed the bottom with extra leaves so boiling water never touches the lowest parcels.

Method

Cook the red recado25 min
Toast the pumpkin and sesame seeds and the soaked guaque, and char the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper and 4 garlic cloves.
Blend the lot with 250 ml broth until smooth, then sauté in 15 ml achiote oil 8 minutes until thick and glossy and season with 5 g salt. Toss the raw chicken chunks in 4 Tbsp of it.
Toast pumpkin seeds, sesame and soaked guaque; char tomatoes, onion, pepper and 4 garlic cloves. Blend with 250 ml broth until smooth. Sauté in 15 ml achiote oil 8 minutes until thick and glossy; add 5 g salt. Coat raw chicken with 4 Tbsp recado.
Cook the silky masa20 min
Whisk the corn flour with 1.5 L warm broth, the cumin and 15 g salt until lump-free, and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously.
At 75 °C pour in the melted lard and remaining achiote oil in a steady stream, beating hard, and cook 12 to 15 minutes until glossy and falling in heavy ribbons.
Whisk corn flour, 1.5 L warm broth, cumin and 15 g salt until smooth. Cook over medium, stirring constantly. At 75 °C stream in melted lard and remaining achiote oil, beating hard. Cook 12–15 minutes, reaching 80–85 °C, until glossy and falling in heavy ribbons.
Prepare the leaves15 min
Pass each leaf briefly over a flame, about 3 seconds a side, until pliable and dark green, and cut into 30 × 30 cm squares.
Cut parchment squares to line any leaf that tears.
Pass each leaf briefly over a flame, about 3 seconds a side, until pliable and dark green, and cut into 30 × 30 cm squares.
Cut parchment squares to line any leaf that tears.
Assemble30 min
Spoon 120 g of warm masa into the centre of a leaf square and set a piece of seasoned chicken on it.
Spoon a tablespoon of recado over the meat and add a potato round, three chickpeas, an olive and a strip of red pepper.
Place 120 g warm masa on a leaf; add seasoned chicken, 1 tablespoon recado, a potato round parboiled 5 minutes, three cooked peeled chickpeas, an olive and a red-pepper strip.
Fold and tie20 min
Bring the leaf edges together over the filling in a tight double fold, then fold the top and bottom flaps underneath into a flat rectangle.
Tie securely with twine in a cross.
Bring the leaf edges together over the filling in a tight double fold, then fold the top and bottom flaps underneath into a flat rectangle.
Tie securely with twine in a cross.
Steam2 hr
Line the rack with leaf scraps, pour in 1.5 L boiling water below rack level, and stack the tamales flat.
Cover with more leaves and foil, seal with the lid, and steam over medium-low 2 hours, topping up the water as needed. Rest 15 minutes before unwrapping.
Line rack with leaf scraps; add 1.5 L boiling water below rack and stack tamales flat. Cover with leaves, foil and lid; steam on medium-low 2 hours. Check water every 45 minutes and replenish as needed. Rest 15 minutes before opening.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a trembling silky golden-yellow block holding red-glazed chicken, potato and chickpea, releasing cleanly from the leaf.
- Auditory: steady rhythmic bubbling from the steamer and the gentle clink of parcels.
- Olfactory: steamed banana leaf, sweet corn, chicken broth, pork lard, toasted sesame and cumin.
Check for silky golden masa holding red-glazed chicken, potato and chickpea and releasing cleanly from the leaf. Keep steady bubbling in the steamer; expect banana leaf, corn, chicken broth, lard, sesame and cumin aromas.

Storing it

Wrapped tamales keep a week refrigerated or 6 months frozen. Reheat by steaming 20 minutes.

Troubleshooting

A grainy, chalky tamal.: The masa was wrapped raw. It has to be cooked on the stove first.
Dry and crumbly.: Too little lard or broth. Follow the ratios exactly.
A bitter scorched note through the whole batch.: The steamer ran dry and the bottom leaves burned. Check the water every 45 minutes.

Substitutions

One-to-one global substitutions, with the technique adjustment each one requires.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Tamal masa flour	Fine white masa harina	One-to-one, still pre-cooked on the stovetop as directed
Pork lard	Unsalted European butter, or vegetable shortening	One-to-one. Butter brings a rich dairy note
Smoked banana leaves	Parchment inside heavy-duty foil	A mechanical wrapper only — the leaf aroma is lost

Scaling

Half, for 8 tamales

Halve everything and steam 1 hour 45 minutes in an 8-quart pot.

Double, for 32 tamales

Double everything across two 16-quart pots so the steam circulates freely.

What to serve it with

Hot pan francés, wrapped around the soft tamal — a beloved Salvadoran habit
Spicy habanero sauce on the side
Santa Ana mountain coffee, or hot spiced chocolate

Questions

Can I use pork?

Yes — tamales de cerdo use shoulder or ribs braised in the same red recado.

How long do they keep?

A week refrigerated in their leaves, 6 months frozen. Steam 20 minutes to reheat.

Why banana leaves rather than corn husks?

Their oils and moisture keep pre-cooked masa custardy, and they add a rich herbal-tea aroma.