Plate 02 of 10

Nacatamales

Name: Nacatamales
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 330 min
Yield: 12 large nacatamales
Cuisine: Nicaragua
Ingredients: 1.5 kg Pork shoulder or bone-in ribs, cut into 12 large 120 g chunks; 120 ml Freshly squeezed sour orange juice, or 3 parts orange to 1 part lime; 30 g Artisanal achiote paste; 8 cloves Fresh garlic, crushed to a fine paste; 8 g Cumin seeds, freshly toasted and ground; 4 g Dried wild oregano, crushed; 25 g Fine sea salt; 4 g Freshly ground black pepper; 1 kg Precooked white corn masa flour, or fresh nixtamalised masa; 500 g Russet potatoes, boiled in their skins, peeled and riced smooth while hot; 350 g Rendered pure pork lard, melted and warm; 1.8 L Rich pork or chicken bone stock, hot; 60 ml Achiote oil, for the colour; 150 g Long-grain white rice, soaked 30 minutes in cold water and drained; 4 medium Potatoes, peeled and sliced raw into 5 mm rounds; 2 large Yellow onions, sliced into thin rings; 2 large Sweet green chiltoma peppers, cored and cut into rings; 12 sprigs Fresh spearmint (hierbabuena); 12 whole Pitted green Manzanilla olives; 36 whole Dark seedless raisins, or dried prunes; 12 small Fresh chile congo, or bird's eye chillies; 2 kg Smoked banana leaves, washed, softened over a flame, cut into 35 × 35 cm squares; 1 roll Cotton butcher's twine

Twice the size of a Mexican tamal and over a pound each. The masa is not whipped raw with cold lard — it is cooked on the stove first until it drops in heavy ribbons, and hot riced potato goes in with it, because potato amylopectin is what keeps the parcel moist through four hours of boiling.

Prep: 1 hr 30 min
Cook: 4 hr
Serves: 12 large nacatamales
Difficulty: Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

An opened green banana-leaf parcel on a dark table showing orange corn masa filled with chunks of pork, white rice, a boiled potato, a green olive, a tomato slice and a dark prune.

Sunday mornings in Nicaragua belong to the nacatamal. Twice the size of a Mexican tamal and weighing over a pound, it is a self-contained feast.

The dough is nixtamalised corn masa enriched with pork bone broth, boiled potatoes and a great deal of lard, beaten over the flame until glossy and silky. Inside goes a thick chunk of pork shoulder marinated in sour orange, achiote and garlic, and on top raw rice, sliced potato, sweet chiltoma, fresh hierbabuena, green olives, raisins and a single hot chilli.

Wrapped in banana leaves and tied into tight rectangular parcels, they steam for four hours.

Ingredients

The pork
1.5 kgPork shoulder or bone-in ribs, cut into 12 large 120 g chunks
120 mlFreshly squeezed sour orange juice, or 3 parts orange to 1 part lime
30 gArtisanal achiote paste
8 clovesFresh garlic, crushed to a fine paste
8 gCumin seeds, freshly toasted and ground
4 gDried wild oregano, crushed
25 gFine sea salt10 g onto the pork, 15 g into the masa
4 gFreshly ground black pepper
The masa
1 kgPrecooked white corn masa flour, or fresh nixtamalised masa
500 gRusset potatoes, boiled in their skins, peeled and riced smooth while hot
350 gRendered pure pork lard, melted and warm
1.8 LRich pork or chicken bone stock, hot
60 mlAchiote oil, for the colour
The filling
150 gLong-grain white rice, soaked 30 minutes in cold water and drained
4 mediumPotatoes, peeled and sliced raw into 5 mm rounds
2 largeYellow onions, sliced into thin rings
2 largeSweet green chiltoma peppers, cored and cut into rings
12 sprigsFresh spearmint (hierbabuena)
12 wholePitted green Manzanilla olives
36 wholeDark seedless raisins, or dried prunes
12 smallFresh chile congo, or bird's eye chillies
To wrap
2 kgSmoked banana leaves, washed, softened over a flame, cut into 35 × 35 cm squares
1 rollCotton butcher's twine

Cook the masa before it is wrapped

This is the difference between a nacatamal and a Mexican tamal. Whisked with hot broth, riced potato and warm lard at 82–88 °C, the corn starches gelatinise in the pot. Wrapped raw, the masa comes out dry, chalky and crumbly.

Potato holds the water

Its amylopectin stays soft through a four-hour boil. Corn masa alone firms up and dries out over that long a cook, no matter how much lard is in it.

Beat until it ribbons

Fifteen to eighteen minutes of continuous whisking. The masa should be glossy and thick and fall from the paddle in heavy ribbons — that is the emulsion holding.

The sour orange does real work

Citric acid denatures the surface myofibrillar proteins over twelve hours, which lets the garlic and achiote get deep into the fibres before any heat is applied.

One sprig of mint

Hierbabuena cuts the heavy lard and releases its aroma the moment the leaf is opened. It is not garnish.

Do not let the pot boil dry

Four hours evaporates a great deal of water. Keep a kettle on and top the reservoir up every hour.

Passive time, counted separately

The pork marinates 12 to 24 hours, the rice soaks 30 minutes, the cooked masa cools, and the steamed parcels rest 15 minutes. None of that is active work.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the seasoned bone stock, the masa and the cured olives. Fat is lard emulsified through the corn plus the pork's own. Acid is sharp floral sour orange cutting the lard. Heat is garlic, black pepper, toasted cumin and the whole chile congo steaming inside. Umami is braised pork, bone stock and banana leaf polyphenols.

Equipment

8 qt Dutch oven and a wooden paddle
Potato ricer
16 to 20 qt stockpot with an elevated rack
Butcher's twine and tongs
Wire racks

Traditionally a 20-to-30 quart aluminium cauldron over an outdoor wood fire. A 16-to-20 quart stockpot with a raised rack works in a modern kitchen — line the bottom with leaf trimmings so the lowest parcels never scorch.

Method

Marinate the pork, the day before15 min
Whisk the sour orange juice, achiote paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper and 10 g salt, and toss the 12 pork chunks in it thoroughly.
Cover and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours.
Whisk sour orange juice, achiote, garlic, cumin, oregano, pepper and 10 g salt. Thoroughly coat all 12 pork chunks, cover and refrigerate for 12–24 hours.
Cook the masa25 min
Whisk the masa flour, hot riced potato, 15 g salt and 1.8 L hot stock smooth in the Dutch oven and set over medium heat, whisking continuously.
At 75 °C pour in the warm lard and achiote oil in a steady stream, beating hard, and cook 15 to 18 minutes until glossy and thick enough to fall in heavy ribbons. Cool to warm room temperature.
Whisk masa flour, hot riced potato, 15 g salt and 1.8 L hot stock until smooth over medium heat. At 75 °C, stream in warm lard and achiote oil while beating. Cook 15–18 minutes, whisking continuously at 82–88 °C until glossy and ribboning. Cool to warm room temperature.
Prepare the leaves15 min
Pass each leaf square over a flame for about 3 seconds a side until pliable and dark green, and wipe clean with a damp cloth.
Pass each banana-leaf square over a flame for about 3 seconds per side until dark green and pliable. Wipe both sides clean with a damp cloth.
Assemble30 min
Lay two overlapping leaf squares down and spread 250 g of warm masa into an oval in the centre.
Set a marinated pork chunk in the middle, then 1 Tbsp soaked rice, 2 slices of raw potato, an onion ring, a chiltoma ring, a sprig of hierbabuena, an olive, 3 raisins and one whole chilli.
Soak rice 30 minutes beforehand. Overlap two leaf squares; spread 250 g warm masa in an oval. Add one marinated pork chunk, 1 Tbsp soaked rice, 2 raw potato slices, an onion ring, a chiltoma ring, a mint sprig, an olive, 3 raisins and one whole chilli.
Wrap and tie20 min
Fold the top and bottom edges over the filling into a tight double fold down the centre, then fold the sides in to make a compact rectangle of about 18 × 12 cm.
Wrap in an outer leaf scrap and tie firmly in a cross with twine.
Fold top and bottom edges over filling into a tight double fold, then fold sides inward to form an approximately 18 × 12 cm rectangle. Add an outer leaf scrap and tie firmly crosswise with twine.
Steam-boil four hours4 hr
Set a rack in the stockpot with 3 L boiling water just below it, and line it with leaf scraps.
Pack the nacatamales flat in alternating layers, cover with more leaves and foil, clamp the lid on, and boil steadily over medium-low 4 hours, topping up with boiling water every hour.
Set a rack above 3 L boiling water and line with leaf scraps. Stack parcels flat in alternating layers; cover with leaves, foil and a tight lid. Maintain steady boiling over medium-low for 4 hours, topping up with boiling water every hour; never boil dry.
Rest and serve
Lift them out onto wire racks and rest 15 minutes before cutting the twine.
Peel the leaves back directly onto deep plates and serve hot.
Lift parcels onto wire racks and rest 15 minutes before cutting their ties. Open the banana leaves directly over deep plates and serve the nacatamales hot.
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Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a glistening sunset-orange masa pillow, meat that yields completely, and rice grains soft and swollen inside the parcel.
- Auditory: steady rhythmic bubbling and the clink of parcels shifting together.
- Olfactory: steamed banana leaf, sour orange pork, rendered lard, spearmint and sweet cooked corn.
Open a parcel and check for glossy orange masa, completely tender pork and soft, swollen rice grains. During cooking, maintain steady bubbling; finished parcels should smell of steamed leaves, sour-orange pork, lard, spearmint and corn.

Storing it

Refrigerate in their leaves for up to a week, or freeze up to 6 months. Reheat by steaming, covered, for 25 minutes.

Troubleshooting

Dry, chalky, crumbly masa.: It was wrapped raw. The masa has to be cooked on the stove with lard and potato first.
Watery masa with the colour washed out.: The twine was loose and boiling water got in. Tie firmly, under real tension.
Scorched bottom parcels.: The reservoir ran low. Top it up with boiling water every hour.

Substitutions

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

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Sour orange	3 parts fresh orange juice to 1 part lime	One-to-one. It replicates the citric-malic balance
Pork shoulder	Bone-in country ribs, or chicken leg quarters	One-to-one, keeping the pieces large at about 120 g
Banana leaves	Parchment paper inside heavy-duty foil	Wrap in parchment first, then seal tightly in foil

Scaling

Half, for 6 nacatamales

Halve everything. The boil stays a strict 4 hours for the pork.

Double, for 24 nacatamales

Double everything across two 20-quart stockpots side by side.

What to serve it with

Hot crusty pan francés, for dragging through the masa
Strong black mountain coffee with raw cane sugar
An ice-cold Toña, or sweet fermented chicha de maíz

Questions

Why riced potato in the masa?

Its amylopectin stays soft through boiling. Without it, corn masa turns firm and dry over four hours.

Why the spearmint?

One sprig cuts the rich lard and releases a bright herbal aroma the moment the leaves are opened.

How long do they keep?

A week refrigerated in their leaves, or 6 months frozen. Steam 25 minutes to reheat.