Montucas

Medium·50 min active + 1 hour 10 min resting

Honduran fresh-corn tamales — a sweet-savory dough of ground fresh corn wrapped in corn husks around a chicken or pork filling, steamed until set. The harvest-season tamal of the interior.

Montucas (tamales de elote) are Honduras's fresh-corn tamales, made at the corn harvest from young sweet corn rather than dried masa. Slightly sweet, wrapped in the corn's own husk.

Unwrap a montuca and steam rises off a tender, golden, faintly sweet fresh-corn dough hiding a savory pocket of chicken in tomato guiso. Bite: the corn is sweet and creamy, almost cake-like, the filling savory and soft, a swipe of crema tying it together. Sweeter and looser than a dried-masa tamal — the taste of the Honduran corn harvest.

Ground fresh corn (not dried masa) gives a sweet, moist, almost cake-like dough; a little butter and masa harina bind it so it sets when steamed without drying. Steaming in the corn husk perfumes the dough and cooks it gently through.

Variations

With pork instead of chicken. Sweet-only (no filling), as a side. With raisins. With a strip of sweet pepper. Wrapped in banana leaf. With a richer corn-and-cream dough.

On the Palate

Where Montucas sits in the Honduran flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 6

How it's made

8 steps · 50 min active + 1 hour 10 min waiting

1
18 min
Cut kernels from 8 ears of fresh corn; grind to a coarse paste.
Watch out
Grind the fresh kernels to a coarse, slightly nubbly paste — puree it too smooth and the dough loses its moist, cake-like bite.
2
6 min
Mix the corn with 80 g butter, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, and a little masa harina to bind.
Watch out
Work in just enough masa harina to bind — the dough should be soft and spoonable but hold a mound; too much flour and it steams up dense and dry.
3
18 min
Cook 400 g chicken with onion, sweet pepper, and tomato into a soft guiso filling.
4
8 min
Soften corn husks in warm water.
5
8 min
Spread corn dough on each husk; add a spoon of chicken filling.
6
6 min
Fold the husks into sealed parcels and tie.
7
62 min
Steam upright 60 min until the dough sets firm.
Watch out
Steam upright the full hour until the dough sets firm and pulls cleanly from the husk — unwrap too soon and the centre is still raw and sticky.
8
10 min
Rest 10 min and serve warm with crema.