Shrimp and rice go together so well. I was inspired to prepare this tamal when watching a Facebook live from a restaurant in Los Angeles. The chef was featuring the dishes for a special event that night. On the menu was a shrimp tamal with rice! I was like, “Hey, how come I have never done that before?”
Are you a “Think outside the box”, cook or do you stick to the recipe?
When I was first learning to cook, I definitely would say I stuck to the recipes. As I grew as a cook and gained more experience with the ingredients that I loved, I begin to mix it up in my kitchen. For a few years I was into fusion cooking. Mixing Mexican with Italian, Asian, Indian and even Greek flavors. I love it! Mixing different ingredients into masa for tamales works great 95 percent of the time. The masa is very forgiving and fuses together beautifully during the steaming process. As long as you are not mixing in ingredients that are too wet or contain broth, you should be good to go!
I like experimenting with banana leaves, just to learn more, but you can also use the more traditional corn husk.
I took some notes and created my own version of a shrimp and rice tamal. I knew I wanted to use banana leaves because I knew the tamal would be bigger. The banana leaves can be cut down to size. They are easy to work with once you soften them. But, I also used the more traditional corn husk. I shared images of both.
If you prefer not to mix in chile sauce, that’s ok too. I like it for added color and flavor. Take a basic corn tortilla masa and turn it into this delicious tamal!
Any cooked rice works well in this tamal recipe. If you prefer no vegetables, just omit them when preparing your rice
The masa should be easy to spread. it looks thick because it just came out of the refrigerator
I have only ever used shrimp that I cooked ahead of time. I will have to experiment with uncooked shrimp and share my results with you all. For the corn husk version I use smaller whole shrimp that I cooked ahead.
Traditional corn husk were much easier to use for assembling these tamales
I loved the tamales in the end, but I think next time I would chop the cooked shrimp smaller. Here I used smaller shrimp, added them whole, 4 whole shrimp instead of 3 flat shrimp.
Roasted poblano or roasted green chile strips are an option as well as fresh jalapeño strips. They all add different levels of flavor and heat.
Choose your favorite salsa here! I chose a simple tomatillo salsa recipe.
Packing in a little extra masa on the bottom is optional.
The tamal was delicious! I only feel horrible that I didn’t photograph it without all the salsa on top! This means I will have to make them again! Darn! Lol!
The banana leaf version yields 4 large tamales, but you can prepare smaller ones using corn husk
Click the link to see the recipe for Mexican-style rice. https://pinaenlacocina.com/simple-mexican-style-rice-arroz-estilo-mexicano/
And not only for shrimp, imagine this tamal filled with chicken tinga or cochinta pibil!
This is the way the tamal looks when you open it up. The tamal with the salsa, I flipped over and topped it with salsa. Type salsa into the search bar for many, many salsa recipes on my blog.
Shrimp and Rice Tamal
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup pork lard or vegetable shortening, chilled
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup masa prepared for corn tortillas see link
- 1/2 cup chicken broth, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups previously cooked Mexican rice
- 6 extra large or colossal shrimp previously poached in salt water, then butterflied to yield two flat shrimp
- 8 large jalapeño strips
- salsa cruda de tomatillo
- cilantro chopped
- 8 prepared banana leaves for tamales 11×14 Or 20 large corn husk. softened
For Salsa Cruda
- 6 Tomatillo roughly chopped
- 3 chile serrano roughly chopped
- onion chopped
- cilantro
- salt to taste
Instructions
Directions
- In the stand mixer, whip the lard for 2 minutes. Mix in the baking powder and salt. Gradually mix in the prepared masa for corn tortillas. Once that is incorporated, gradually mix in the broth. Mix the masa for 7-8 minutes. Taste for salt. On low or by hand with a large spoon, mix in the cooked rice until well combined. If it feels too thick, mix in a little more broth. Keep covered with plastic wrap so it does not dry out. Keep masa chilled while you prep the remaining ingredients.
- Corn Husk-If using traditional corn husk, pre-soak them for at least 1 hour in very hot water. This recipe is for 4 large tamales, but you can chop the shrimp and prepare 8 smaller tamales.
- Banana Leaves-Cut banana leaves to desired size. Preheat a comal(griddle) to medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Lay the pieces of banana leaves on the hot comal. You will see them begin to change color, soften and become shiny. Turn as needed and set aside. The leaves must be heated this way before assembling tamales.
- Peel and clean the shrimp. Preheat 5 cups of salted water to medium heat. When it comes to a boil, gently add the shrimp and poach for 2 minutes or just until it turns pink. Immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water. Reserve until ready to use.
- For Salsa Cruda, combine all of the ingredients to the blender. Pulse to blend until desired smoothness. Taste for salt ans set aside.
- Drain the poached shrimp and slice open, then apart to yield two thin sliced pieces of shrimp.
- Banana Leaves Tamal: Take 2 of the banana leaves and stack them on top of each other. To the center, add about 1/3-1/2 cup of the masa with rice. Add 3 sliced shrimp, 1-2 jalapeño strip and 1 tablespoon of salsa cruda. Fold in the sides until they overlap. Then fold in the top and bottom. Tear off a few strips of the extra banana leaf and tie each end.
- Banana Leaves: Fill the bottom of a pot with 4 cups of water. Insert a metal steamer. Arrange tamales laying down and layered. Cover with lid and turn heat to high. When it begins to steam rapidly, reduce heat to medium. Set your timer for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, add 3/4 cup of hot water to the bottom of pot, pouring in carefully to one side of the pot. Cover and continue steaming for another 25 minutes. Pull one tamal and test for doneness. After it cools for a few minutes, if the tamal comes away easily from the leaf, they are done. Remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes.
- Corn Husk- Spread masa across the bottom half of corn husk. Add cooked shrimp, peppers of choice and a tablespoon of salsa. Fold in the sides, then fold the flap down. Stand tamal up and fill bottom with a little extra masa. Stand up in prepared steamer pot filled with water at the bottom. Arrange a few extra husks at the bottom. Cover with more husks and a clean kitchen towel. Cover with lid. Start on high heat. Once it comes up to a rapid steam, lower heat to just below medium and continue steaming for 45 minutes. Keep extra warming water on back burner. After 45 minutes, carefully pour in 3/4 c of hot water to steamer. Continue steaming for another 25 minutes. Pull one tamal out and let it cool for a few minutes before attempting to unwrap it. If the husk pulls away easily, they are done.
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