When birria meets tamales this magic happens! Amigos you’re going to love these vegan birria tamales made with oyster mushrooms. You need to eat them by dipping into the birria broth for a delicious experience you’re going to love.
30or more corn husksfor 20 tamales and the rest for the steamer
Instructions
Corn Husks Instructions
Sort through them and remove any dirt and debris. Thoroughly rinse and place in a large container or right there n the sink, cover with enough hot water. Leave to hydrate until softened and flexible. Drain off excess water before spreading the masa.
Birria Instructions
Use a damp cloth or paper towel to wipe clean the chiles, then cut off the stem and deseed. In a pot place the chiles, the tomatoes, onion and garlic cloves. Pour enough water to cover them and simmer until chiles are rehydrated and the onion is soft.
Once the chiles have rehydrated, use a slotted spoon to remove them and vegetables from the pot and place into a blender. Add ½ cup of the boiling broth, blend until you have a perfectly smooth salsa. You can use more boiling broth if needed.
Use a colander to strain the salsa into a pot. Then add the bayleaf, oregano, ground black pepper, allspice, ground cumin, ground clove, canela, remaining Maggi Seasoning, the apple cider vinegar and stir until well combined. Mix in 1.5 cups of the vegetable broth and simmer for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Do not add more broth yet!
While you wait for the salsa to simmer you can cook the shredded oyster mushrooms. In a large enough sauté pan to fit the mushrooms, heat up 2 Tablespoons of oil then add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent. Then mix in the shredded mushrooms, and drizzle the teaspoon of Maggi seasoning over them and cook until they have softened and gotten a little crispy.
Add 1 to 1½ cups of the chile sauce to the mushroom and cook for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. The mixture should be saucy but not swimming in sauce. Allow to cool before using as filling or storing in the refrigerator.
Masa Instructions
Place the shortening in a large mixing bowl, remember the end mixture is going to yield 3 lbs. so your bowl needs to be large enough. Whip the shortening until it’s creamy, light and almost fluffy.
Add half of the masa harina, all the baking powder and the salt. Mix for a few minutes on low speed to help start incorporating the flour into the shortening. Little by little begin adding 1 cup of broth — but don’t add it all at once, it won’t only splash up all over the place, but you may not need to use all of the broth to get the correct consistency.
Start increasing the speed and start adding the remaining masa harina until it’s all been added, and keep adding in more broth until you have a smooth and spreadable texture. You can test the masa in a little bit of water and if it floats it's the perfect consistency.
Tamales Instructions
Spread the masa on the corn husks then add a couple of tablespoons of the birria, fold then steam.
Pour water into your tamalera then cover the steaming shelf with hydrated corn husks. Next arrange the folded tamales inside the pot. Cover the pot with aluminum foil, make a small hole in the center, cover and place on the stove.
Over high heat allow the water to boil, then turn heat to low and steam for 1 hour. Then take out one tamal and let it sit for 10 minutes before unwrapping and testing. If finished cooking the masa will be solid and not mushy. If the masa is solid then turn off heat and allow to sit 10 minutes before serving. If not finished then cook another 30 minutes before testing again.
Broth Instructions
While the tamales steam you can continue to make the birria broth by adding the remaining vegetable broth. Simmer for 40 minutes covered. Taste and adjust if desired before serving.
Serve broth with tamales and some chopped cilantro and onion and some lemon wedges.
Video
Notes
This recipe makes 20 to 24 tamales, you can double the filling ingredients if you'd like a larger batch.