CHILE ANCHO SAUCE FOR PORK
Take 1 lb. dry chile ancho (you need to get these at a Mexican store). Put chiles in 6 qt. pan. Cover with water 2 inches above chiles. Boil for 2 hours, or until soft, adding water as needed.
Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 chopped garlic clove. Take the stems and seeds out, wearing rubber gloves to protect your hands. Put the stemmed and seeded chiles into a blender in bacthes, 2 cups at a time, and blend until it turns into a thick liquid. Don’t forget to keep adding the broth from the boiled chiles.
Strain each batch through a steel strainer, not a pasta strainer. Throw the pulp and seeds away. The consistency should be like a thick soup, yielding about 15 cups.
PORK FILLING
Get an 8 lb pork butt and simmer gently in water just to cover, about 2 to 3 hours. Add about 1 tablespoon salt and 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped. Cool the pork in the broth, then shred using two forks when cooled. Be sure to save the broth from the meat, you will need it later.
Mix 10 cups of the chile ancho sauce with the shredded pork butt. Place the mixture into an 8 qt. pot and bring to a boil. The mix should be the consistency of a Sloppy Joe. If too thin, boil the mix down. If too thick, add some chile ancho sauce or broth. Season taste.
MASA FOR TAMALES
10 lbs. prepared masa
Buy the masa from a Mexican store or, the best way, from a tortilla factory. Masa should be moist and spreadable. If too thick, add pork butt stock a ladle at a time. Mix with your hands or 2 strong wooden spoons, though it’s easier to mixby hand. It helps to work with the masa in batches, one-half at a time.
CORN HUSKS
2 lbs. corn husks (dry)
Corn husks can be purchased at a Mexican market. Soak in large pan of water to soften and clean husks for an hour or more. Drain the corn husks.
ASSEMBLY OF TAMALES
Take a 12 qt. pot with a heavy bottom, and insert a metal funnel wrapped in foil in the center of the pot. Add some small husks on the bottom of the pot so not to burn the tamales.
Spread about 1/4 inch of masa on a tamale husk, add some meat filling in the middle. Fold the husk in on each side, then fold the husk in half. Stack the tamales in the prepared pot vertically to within 1 inch of the top of the pot, add about 6 inches of boiling water, then cover with more small corn husks. Cover the pot.
Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, on medium heat. Keep checking the water so it does not boil dry, and add boiling water only.
Test for doneness by unrolling a tamale from the corn husk. If it comes off easily it is done.
Yield about 6 dozen tamales.