Tamales

Name: Tamales
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: Masa harina; Lard; Baking powder; Chicken breast; Chicken stock; Dried ancho chillies; Onion; Garlic

352 kcal a serving, against 578 for the traditional version. That is 226 kcal off, or 39%, with 23.8g of protein. Serves 10. 2 hours.

What the traditional version is

A highly enriched dough of masa harina and whipped lard, wrapped around slow-cooked fatty pork in a rich red chilli sauce. The whole package is folded into dried corn husks and steamed until the dough is light, fluffy and peels cleanly away from the wrapper.

What changed, and what each change costs

250g of lard reduced to 50g, bolstered with 10g of baking powder and extra chicken stock

Lard provides a massive hit of calories. Dropping the fat so drastically means I have to force the dough to rise using baking powder and hydration instead of whipped animal fat.

What it costs you. The masa is noticeably less fluffy. It's the first compromise you'll notice, as the tamale takes on a firmer, slightly chewier texture rather than melting in your mouth.

600g of fatty pork shoulder swapped for 800g of skinless chicken breast

Fatty pork shoulder drips grease into the dough from the inside out. Shredded chicken breast brings plenty of meat without the extra grease, easily absorbing the intense ancho chilli sauce.

What it costs you. Chicken breast has no fat to give. If you overcook the tamales, the filling will turn chalky and dry. It lacks the lip-coating richness of slow-cooked pork.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Masa harina
Lard
Baking powder
Chicken breast
Chicken stock
Dried ancho chillies
Onion
Garlic

How it starts

Put the chicken breast in a large pot with 450g of chicken stock, 50g of the onion and 5g of the garlic.
Toast the ancho chillies in a dry frying pan for 2 minutes.
Blend the soaked chillies with the remaining 50g of onion, the remaining 10g of garlic, and a splash of water to make a thick sauce.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Mexican.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	578	352
Protein	16.1g	23.8g
Fat	38.5g	9.8g
Saturated fat	14g	2.8g
Carbohydrate	42.3g	42.6g
Protein per 100 kcal	2.8g	6.8g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Mexican prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

The method is in the book

This requires effort, and What you've got is a pragmatic adaptation. A magical replica of a traditional dish is a different dish and you know where to find it. Cutting the lard means the dough is sturdier and heavier, and the chicken breast filling is distinctly lean. The deep, earthy flavour of the ancho chilli is completely intact, and steaming in parchment still yields a hot parcel of corn and spiced meat. You lose the extreme fluffiness, but you gain a meal you can actually justify eating on a regular basis.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Mexican, along with 56 more. Buy the paperback