Argentine Charqui Tamale

Tamal de charqui is a typical variant from northern Argentina that replaces fresh meat with charqui, dehydrated and salted meat, giving it an intense, concentrated flavor.

It’s an ancestral dish of indigenous origin, very popular in Salta, Jujuy, Tucumán, Catamarca, La Rioja, and Santiago del Estero.

Argentine Charqui Tamale

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• Prep Time: 45 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
• Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Argentine

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

For the filling

• 500 g of charqui (dried meat)
• 500 g of onion
• 250 g of bell pepper
• 200 g of potato
• 2 tablespoons of paprika
• 1 tablespoon of cumin
• Pepper, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Oil for sautéing

For the dough

• 400 g of yellow corn flour
• 300 g of squash (zapallo)
• 50 g of butter
• 1 liter of water or broth
• Salt, to taste

For assembling and cooking

• 1 package of dried corn husks
• Warm water for soaking the husks
• Water for boiling the charqui, potato, and squash
• Plenty of water for cooking the tamales

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Preparation

1. Soak the husks, soak the corn husks in warm water from the night before.
2. Boil the charqui, potato, and squash, boil the charqui and mash it; separately boil the diced potato and the squash, and mash the squash.
3. Make the filling, finely dice the onion and bell pepper, sauté them in oil, and stir in the mashed charqui. Season with paprika, cumin, and pepper, add salt if needed, and cook for 10 minutes; add the potato and let it cool.
4. Make the dough, in a saucepan, bring the liter of water or broth to a boil with salt and the butter. Once it boils, rain in the corn flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon; when it is ready, mix it with the mashed squash.
5. Assemble the tamales, shape a thin bowl of dough with your hands, place the filling in the center, and close it into a ball; wrap it in a soaked husk, twisting the ends like a candy wrapper.
6. Cook, cook the tamales in plenty of water for 2 hours.
7. Serve, serve hot, inside their own husk.

Tips for getting it right

• Mashing the boiled charqui well helps achieve an even texture in the filling.
• Using the charqui’s cooking broth in the dough boosts the tamale’s flavor.
• Shaping the dough balls into a bowl shape before filling makes assembly easier.
• Tying each tamale securely keeps it from opening during boiling.

Traditional variations

• The charqui can be made from beef or kid goat, depending on the region.
• Some recipes add raisins or hard-boiled egg to the filling.

How to serve

Tamal de charqui is served hot, inside its own husk, as a main dish.

It’s typical of the Argentine Northwest provinces, especially during patron saint festivals and family celebrations.

Recommended sides

• Creole sauce (salsa criolla)
• Hot chili sauce

Did you know?

Charqui is an ancestral meat-preservation technique, used since pre-Hispanic times to store meat for long periods.

Using the charqui broth in the dough is what gives this tamale its concentrated, characteristic flavor.