Tamales Peruanos

References:

  • Servings- 10 Tamales
  • Preparation Time- 1.5 hours

Ingredients:

  • 10 ears of corn
  • 1lb of chicken (prepare the chicken by cutting it into pieces that are 1.5 inches.
  • 2 ounces of toasted peanuts
  • 8oz of shortening
  • 12 black olives (prepare the black olives by deseeding and then cutting them into fourths)
  • 1 large onion (prepare the onion by finely chopping it)
  • 3 hardboiled eggs. (prepare the hardboiled eggs by cutting them into 5th’s)
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Aji (this will be used to taste)
  • Banana leafs
  • Salsa Criolla

Preparation Instructions:

  • Remove all the kernels from the ears of corn and process them.
  • Take the aji mirasol and seed and devein them all. Then place them in boiling water and boil them for 5 minutes. After five minutes get rid of the water and then blend the aji with olive oil. Do this until the paste is consistent throughout.
  • Then take 2 tablespoons of shortening and place it in a pan. When the shortening is hot fry the chopped onion, garlic aji mirasol paste along with the pieces of chicken that have already been cut. Season all the ingredients in the pan with both salt and pepper.
  • Once the chicken is golden brown cover all the ingredients with either water or chicken broth. Then bring to a boil and continue to cook until the chicken is tender.
  • Using a medium sized skillet melt the rest of the shortening. Stir it regularly and slowly add in the processed corn kernels. Then add the chicken and the other contents and continue to stir and cook until all the ingredients thicken.
  • Take a banana leaf and then scoop 1.5 tablespoons of of corn mixture into the banana leaf. Top it with a piece of chicken, a piece of hardboiled egg, peanut and olive. Then cover it with the corn mixture. Then wrap the banana leaf to close the filling. Tie it with a string to ensure that it stays close. Repeat this process to continue making the tamales.
  • Put all the tamales in a large pan and proceed to cook them with just a little bit of water for approximately 1 hour.
  • Serve the Tamales with a side dish of salsa criolla.