Sweet Corn Tamales
Sweet corn tamales are made from fresh corn and usually do not have a filling, although there are some who fill it with fried beans. Because of its sweetness and smoothness when almost melting in the mouth, I consider it a dessert. I like to accompany it with Salvadoran cream and my husband prefers them fried (well browned). During the sweet corn season, they are usually prepared at the same time as corn atole, riguas, and the corn pancakes. Here in U.S.A. the corn that is in stores is too juicy. So you will notice in the video I achieved the right consistency using rice flour and the bagasse that is left when extracting the corn juice to make the corn atole. Our recipes are very easy to follow since we give them to you step by step and with images. Remember that you can find the blender we use in this video at Amazon. Sique este link para la receta en Español (recipe in Spanish).
Servings: 40 yield(s)
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 60 mins
Total Time: 90 mins
Ingredients
  • 15 sweet corns
  • 1 bar of butter (4 oz)
  • 2 cup rice flour (or as necessary to achieve correct consistency)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 12 oz fresh cheese (queso fresco)
  • the leftover corn bagasse after extracting the juice of 5 sweet corns (optional (5 corns are extra, from the atole recipe))
Instructions
  1. Melt a bar of butter or margarine.
    2. To prepare the leaves
  2. With a sharp knife, cut the bottom of all corns.
  3. Remove one husk at a time, being careful not to split them, and stack them aside.
    4. To prepare the corn
  4. Put the cob upright, with the thinner tip facing up, and hold it tight and steady. Then, slide the knife down to remove the kernels. Repeat for all.
  5. Place the kernels in an all-terrain blender or food processor to grind them up. The point is that there are no unground seeds left and that it is not very liquid.
  6. Add the salt and fresh cheese (crumbled by hand)
  7. Also add the corn seed bagasse (if you have) and
  8. the butter or margarine.
  9. mix well with a spatula or by hand.
  10. With a big kitchen spoon, grab the mixture and drop it. If you see that it remains lumpy, then it is the correct consistency.
  11. If it does not have the necessary consistency, add the rice flour and mix very well.
  12. This is the desired consistency.
    13. Preparing the pot
  13. Put some corn husks and then some corn-free cobs in the bottom of a large pot. Add water so that it only covers the cobs a little.
    14. Let's start wrapping
  14. Take a leaf and add a spoon of the mixture.
  15. Wrap the leaf and fold the tip.
  16. Take another leaf and put the rolled mixture on the previous leaf so that the open end is inside. The closed tip will be about two fingers out. Wrap it up and fold the tip over.
  17. Place the tamale in the pot so that the bent tip is facing down.
  18. Cook them on high heat for an hour. Remember to make sure after half an hour or 40 minutes that the pot still has enough water. Add water if not.
  19. After an hour of cooking, the tamales are ready.
  20. To enjoy. You can accompany them with cream or fried beans.
Recipe Notes

To give the mixture the correct consistency, I use rice flour and the bagasse of 5 corns (which was left over when I squeezed the juice to make the corn atole which you can find here). If you use corn that is not very juicy, you may not need to do this.