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Tamales con Elote y Chile Poblano (Tamales With Corn and Poblano Chiles)

By Zarela Martinez
Photo of two tamales one closed the other opened with tomatillo chipotle salsa on a plate with a fork and glass of beer.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton

I long for the flavor of tamales de elote, made with puréed fresh corn kernels. But our starchy, flavorful Mexican corn cannot be replaced with United States sweet corn, which creates a terribly insipid, watery effect. So I evolved something a little different using a regular masa mixture with fresh corn kernels and seasonings beaten in.

Ingredients

35-40 dried corn husks
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium-size white onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 poblano chiles roasted, peeled, tops removed, seeded, and diced
2 cups fresh or drained canned corn kernels or 1 package (10 ounces) frozen
1½ tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Salt to taste
½ recipe Basic Tamal Dough

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place the corn husks in a large bowl, cover with boiling water, and let soak while you prepare the filling.

    Step 2

    Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat until rippling. Add the white onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until golden, 2-3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium; add the poblanos, stirring well to combine, and cook 2 minutes longer. Stir in the corn kernels and season with cilantro and cook until the moisture has evaporated, about another 3 minutes. Season with salt. Cool thoroughly.

    Step 3

    Fold or beat the corn mixture into the prepared tamal dough, being sure it is evenly distributed. Fill, fold, and steam the tamales, using about ¼ cup of the masa-corn mixture for each husk.

    Step 4

    Serve with a picante sauce such as Pico de Gallo Norteño or Salsa de Tomatillo con Chipotle.

Illustrated image for cover of Food From My Heart cookbook.
Reprinted with permission from Food from My Heart: Cuisines of Mexico Remembered and Reimagined © 1995 by Zarela Martínez. Published by Wiley. Buy the full book on Amazon.
TagsMexicanLatin AmericanCornVegetablePoblano ChileChileMainDinnerNut FreeGluten FreeDairy FreeCookbooks

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