Costa Rican Christmas Tamale

The Costa Rican pork tamal is the star of Christmas in Costa Rica: corn dough with achiote rice, pork, potato, carrot, and sweet pepper, wrapped in banana leaf and boiled.

The «tamaleada» brings the family together to make dozens of tamales tied in pairs, forming the traditional piñas.

Costa Rican Christmas Tamale

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• Prep Time: 2 hours
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 4 hours
• Yield: 40 tamales
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Costa Rican

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

For the dough

• 2 kilos of corn
• ½ kilo of potatoes, mashed
• 2 bouillon cubes
• Pepper and cumin (2 packets)
• Salsa Lizano, to taste
• Juice from cooking the pork

For the filling

• 1 kilo of pork (posta)
• 1 kilo of rice
• Achiote
• 2 heads of garlic
• 2 large onions
• 2 bunches of cilantro
• 1 bunch of celery
• 2 large sweet peppers
• 1 kilo of carrots
• ½ kilo of potatoes
• 2 tablespoons of salt

For wrapping

• 2 kilos of banana leaves
• 1 roll of string or banana-fiber ties

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Preparation

1. Cook the pork, cook the pork with the aromatics (garlic, onion, cilantro, celery, sweet pepper) and salt; save the cooking juice.
2. Make the dough, prepare and grind the corn; add the pork juice, mashed potato, bouillon, pepper, cumin, and Salsa Lizano, and mix well until it reaches the right consistency.
3. Make the rice, cook the rice with achiote and plenty of aromatics.
4. Assemble the tamales, on two pieces of leaf place a spoonful of dough, then rice and pork on top; around it, place raw a slice of potato, a slice of carrot, a strip of sweet pepper, and onion.
5. Wrap and boil, wrap them in the leaves, tie them in pairs, and boil until the leaves change color, about two hours.

Tips

• Mix the dough well with the pork juice until smooth.
• Tie the tamales in pairs so they don’t open while boiling.

Traditional variations

Many families add hard-boiled egg, chickpeas, or peas to the filling.

How to serve

Serve them hot, in their leaves, for Christmas breakfast or dinner.

Recommended pairings

• Coffee
• Bread

Did you know?

Tamales wrapped in banana leaf and tied in pairs are one of the symbols of Costa Rican Christmas.