You can make your own corn tortillas at home, in Thailand!

[kikoman]

Bunnydrops,

You place the Boon Daeng in a container with at least 3 liters of water or more, mix it well and just let it sit, when you are ready to use it, take out 2 liters of lime water, from the clear water at the top of the container without disturbing the Boon Daeng that has settle to the bottom of the container.

Place the 2 liters of lime water in a SS pot with a kilo of dent corn, and bring to a boil as it reaches a boil lower the flame to a simmer and simmer the corn from 10-30 minutes, turn off the flame and let it sit for at least 24-36 hours, last batch i let ferment for 4 days. Wash well, take off the skins.

The ratio of 2 liters of lime water to 1 kilo of corn, if you do 2 kilo's of corn you would place it in 4 liters of water.

Then simply replace the 2 liters of water in the Boon Daeng and let it rest until you use it again, has a long shelve life.

Cheers:.

[butterisbetter]

Bunnydrops,

You place the Boon Daeng in a container with at least 3 liters of water or more, mix it well and just let it sit, when you are ready to use it, take out 2 liters of lime water, from the clear water at the top of the container without disturbing the Boon Daeng that has settle to the bottom of the container.

Place the 2 liters of lime water in a SS pot with a kilo of dent corn, and bring to a boil as it reaches a boil lower the flame to a simmer and simmer the corn from 10-30 minutes, turn off the flame and let it sit for at least 24-36 hours, last batch i let ferment for 4 days. Wash well, take off the skins.

The ratio of 2 liters of lime water to 1 kilo of corn, if you do 2 kilo's of corn you would place it in 4 liters of water.

Then simply replace the 2 liters of water in the Boon Daeng and let it rest until you use it again, has a long shelve life.

Cheers:.

JUst of the off chance that bunnydrops or anyone else doesn't know what you mean when you write "SS pot", it mans stainless steel pot. You don't want to put anything caustic in aluminium.

[bunnydrops]

Thanks-- I got that, but I still need to know how much Bpoong Daeng? I read about the 5 baht bags but I didn't see an amount used. About how much 1 cup? two?

Sorry about the missing quote box but if I correct an miss spelled word the quote box disappears.

"Bunnydrops,

You place the Boon Daeng in a container with at least 3 liters of water or more, mix it well and just let it sit, when you are ready to use it, take out 2 liters of lime water, from the clear water at the top of the container without disturbing the Boon Daeng that has settle to the bottom of the container.

Place the 2 liters of lime water in a SS pot with a kilo of dent corn, and bring to a boil as it reaches a boil lower the flame to a simmer and simmer the corn from 10-30 minutes, turn off the flame and let it sit for at least 24-36 hours, last batch i let ferment for 4 days. Wash well, take off the skins.

The ratio of 2 liters of lime water to 1 kilo of corn, if you do 2 kilo's of corn you would place it in 4 liters of water.

Then simply replace the 2 liters of water in the Boon Daeng and let it rest until you use it again, has a long shelve life.

Cheers:."

[kikoman]

Butterisbetter, thank you for explaining that.

Bunnydrops, Buy a 10 baht bag of Boon Daeng and mix it with 2 liters of water, take out the 2 liters of the lime water when you want to use it and replace two liters of fresh water in the boon daeng and let it rest until you need it again.

We placed 3 liters of water in ours with two 10 baht bags of boon daeng.

Cheers:

[butterisbetter]

Boon Daeng is not very soluble in water so most of it will stay at the bottom. That is why you can repeatedly drain off the upper 2/3 of the water and replace it with fresh water. Each time you add fresh water a little bit of the boon daeng gets dissolved.

[butterisbetter]

You don't really need any kind of machine to make tortillas. I used to live in the Yucatan and the tortillas most highly regarded by the locals were those that were made by hand. They tended to be thicker than machine made tortillas.

[kikoman]

I remember buying the hand made corn tortillas, still hot and eating them on the spot with Imuris Sonora "Quesadillas" made from the whey left from making queso fresco.

Great tortillas, great cheese, good food and fond memories.

Cheers:

[BKKdreaming]

I bought "real" ones in Mexico city and some peanut butter on them and a real sugar cane Coke.......yummmm

[kikoman]

In answering a question by Bunnydrops, I remembered that after our pro-long soaking of the Thai yellow dent corn, about half of the skins failed to come off of the corn.

My wife decided to grind the corn into flour and then sifted the mixture through a wire screen and separated the corn from the skins, then she sifted the skins though a Thai bamboo rice sifter and separated the skins from the remaining corn flour.

Do not be disheartened by that in the nixtamalization of Thai yellow dent corn, if you want your own homemade corn tortillas as I do it is well worth the effort.

Cheers:

[bunnydrops]

In answering a question by Bunnydrops, I remembered that after our pro-long soaking of the Thai yellow dent corn, about half of the skins failed to come off of the corn.

My wife decided to grind the corn into flour and then sifted the mixture through a wire screen and separated the corn from the skins, then she sifted the skins though a Thai bamboo rice sifter and separated the skins from the remaining corn flour.

Do not be disheartened by that in the nixtamalization of Thai yellow dent corn, if you want your own homemade corn tortillas as I do it is well worth the effort.

Cheers:

Thanks for the tip--- I was going to start today buy the rain here brought down the orchid shed last night. I am sure this is insane, but would this work with popcorn?

[rice555]

Hello All, BD, popcorn can be used, but at more cost/time/work.

Popcorn is a flint family member, cobs are smaller and the kernels

are smaller.

"Popcorn, a type of flint corn, has a soft starchy center that is covered

by a very hard shell. When popcorn is heated the natural moisture

inside the kernel turns to steam that builds up enough pressure for the

kernel to explode. When the kernel explodes the white starchy mass

that you like to eat forms".

One of the reasons that I like to use HK corn is I can order it from my

computer and have it sent to me. I don't know anybody in Mex. that can

send me corn and it has a long history.(1875) When I started looking for

a corn to grow for masa here in LOS, I looked for one that will take heat

and humidity and you can make hominy. If it;s good for hominy, you

can make masa.

rice555

Zea mays

Hickory King White Corn Seeds (115 days)

Large wide deep kernels on small white cobs.

8-9" long ears.

Grows in a wide variety of soils.

Very tight husks help keep out corn worms.

Excellent root structure, but remember to plant them on 8-10" centers so they can

help support each other in high winds.

Each plant can easily average a pound of dry kernels.

One of the best varieties for hominy because the skin slips off so easy.

“HICKORY KING: 85/110 days. [Pre-1875.] In the hills and

hollows of Virginia this corn is still appreciated as a roasting

and hominy corn. It is considered the best variety for hominy

because the skin of the kernel is easily removed by soaking".

Time Frame

Hickory King corn requires 115 days from the time you plant seeds until

the first ears are ready to harvest. It is considered a medium-to-late

producing corn. The plants will continue to produce ears until the first fall

frost damages the plants. The website Casa-Chia reports that it's important

to eat Hickory King corn when it is very fresh, because it does not store well.

Size of Plants and Ears

Hickory King corn produces plants that can grow up to 9 feet tall, reports

the Victory Seeds website. The ears grow to about 8 inches in length,

according to Local Harvest. The harvest is said to be abundant. The kernels

are white, satiny, shiny and loaded with sweet juice.

Different Corn at Different Times

Corn can be harvested at different points of its development. The "milk"

stage occurs when kernels are young, with corn silk remaining a light color.

When you harvest Hickory King corn at its "milk" stage, it can be used as a

sweet corn, which you can roast or grill whole, without removing the husks.

"Milk" corn is also referred to as half-ripe corn, according to Rutgers

University. When you allow the kernels to develop to their full, large size,

the kernels' skin comes off easily when soaked, making them suitable for

hominy, corn flour and cornmeal.

Cross-pollination

Hickory King corn will cross-pollinate with all other varieties of corn growing

in the neighborhood, which makes it difficult to save kernels for next year's

planting, according to Casa-Chia. However, the quality, productivity and

taste of the corn are not affected when cross-pollination occurs. If you are

growing corn and want to save seeds for a future crop, grow only Hickory

King and no other varieties. You might check around your neighborhood

to scout out other corn patches. If you see any corn growing, chances are

it is not Hickory King, because this variety is relatively rare. Your corn will

likely cross pollinate with the other varieties and the seed will not

reproduce true to type.

[rice555]

Hello All, will the OP please post a picture of the

"Thai White Dent Corn" he is talking about please.

rice555

[kikoman]

The corn Native American's used to turn into Nixtamal was mostly flint corn, They soaked it for long periods of time in hardwood ash. Popcorn can be used but it is a lot more time consuming process, because of the hard shell.

The Thai yellow dent corn is sold in feed stores for 20 baht a kilo, a lot cheaper then you could purchase a like amount of popcorn for also after the rainy season is over you can buy the feed corn a lot cheaper directly from the Thai farmers

The giant white Mexican dent corn my son sent me last month is doing great and is growing faster then the weeds, due to the vast amount of rain

.This corn is well on its way to growing to 10-11 foot high corn stalks as the corn I grew a couple of years ago pictured below, I am 6'3' tall and it is well above me about even with the power lines!

Every Thai in the village came to look at the big Falang corn.

Cheers:

[kikoman]

Bunnydrops,

as I made some nixtamal yesterday , this morning we checked it and the center of the kernel was still a little hard, so we decided to leave it soaking for another 12 hours. As the minimum soaking time is 24-36 hours, the last batch i soaked for 3 1/2 days and it came out great. We boiled 2 more kilo's of corn this morning as we are using more masa than anticipated.

It might be wise to let it soak for at least 36 hours to get a smoother masa!

Cheers:

[rice555]

Hello All, two little bits about the HK corn I forgot to add last time.

"After shelling my corn, I am now the proud – and puzzled – owner

of large bowl (about 9 pounds worth) of pale yellow corn kernels.

It’s a simple pleasure to bury my hands in the bowl, filling them with

the kernels that cascade back into the bowl like little golden pellets.

Should a kernel falls on the floor, one of the cats is quite quick to

pounce on it and bat it around with great vigor. Each ear yielded about

½ pound of dry kernels, or a very heaped cupful – so each plant on

average gives 1 pound of dry kernels".

"Originating in North America, Hickory King corn played an important role in the

development of maize agriculture in Africa in the 1800s. Its introduction in 1885

coincided with the first railroads to arrive in parts of Africa, which opened up trade

to formerly inaccessible areas. Hickory King became the "grandfather" of most

commercial varieties of corn in the southern and eastern regions of Africa.

Because it can grow in poor soil, Hickory King provided larger harvests than other

types of maize that were grown before its introduction. This opened up mechanized

farming and harvesting, allowing for large-scale exports to begin. African

sharecroppers and commercial farms benefited from the increase in a good cash

crop starting around 1910".

I still use boxed calcium hydroxide BP as in the picture, you can order the

Thai way by phone, but you need to add "02" to the phone numbers on the box.

The HK pics are second generation from jaidee's seed.

The wife's serrano plants.

The new crop waiting to be planted next month.

rice555

[butterisbetter]

Here's a page that contains lots of useful information about nixtamalization. Among other things, it rules out the use of cornmeal to make masa for tortillas. Might be okay to use to make masa for tamales.

http://www.cookingissues.com/2011/03/09/mesoamerican-miracle-megapost-tortillas-and-nixtamalization/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[rice555]

Hello All, most of the cornmeal sold in LOS is more like

flour, it is not a coarse grind.

I still have the best results making masa using the CIA's

how to make masa on U-Tube. Very straight forward

and simple to understand and follow directions, no second

guessing. Great results.

rice555

[kikoman]

Here's a page that contains lots of useful information about nixtamalization. Among other things, it rules out the use of cornmeal to make masa for tortillas. Might be okay to use to make masa for tamales.

http://www.cookingissues.com/2011/03/09/mesoamerican-miracle-megapost-tortillas-and-nixtamalization/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Very informative article, one can better under stand the Nixtamalization process and it uses by mankind in the last 3,500 years and its benefits if one follows the time tested process, that have been perfected in that same time frame.

The article also addresses the use of Boon Daeng in the process and is very easily accessible to all in every part of Thailand. Also states there is no particular type of corn that is necessary in that process, any type of dent (field) corn may be used, i prefer my giant Mexican dent corn, but am very satisfied with the masa from the Thai yellow dent corn, that I have been using for the last month.

As we just finished our first batch of nixtamal masa and the wife used the Maseca masa flour my son also sent me, there was a compete difference in the taste of the fresh ground masa and the Maseca, with the Thai yellow dent corn masa better tasting than the Maseca.

Again butterisbetter thank you for the posting article.

Cheers:

[jaideeguy]

Hey Rice555,

long time no hear from you and good to see that you have kept my HK strain going and especially good to hear that you are still farming. Me, I've retired from the soil.............bad back, older age and less spare time.

I still have some of the last batch of HK you sent me and test sprouted on paper towels and got more than 60% germination and will offer to give it to any sincere farmers out there that could keep this great strain going.

I'm still amazed that no one has tried making masa on a small commercial scale, as there is certainly a demand for it and also surprised that no one has imported it for supplying the many Mexican restaurants popping up around LOS. We must have at least a dozen here in CM now, but none can produce decent tortillas or tamales.

Good opportunity for someone.............either grow and process masa or import it. I still have a couple of cups in a bag of powdered masa that friends brought over 2 years ago and it's stored in my fridge for that special occasion. Still smells fresh.......

Anyway, I'll give you a call sometimes soon and we can catch up. Do you still have the same number?? PM me if it has changed.

jdg

[kikoman]

Today was a very busy day, We used our rotary quern to grind up our two kilos of nixtamal, I needed to dress the grinding surfaces before doing any grinding as I had not used the guern in a couple of years. I almost forgot I had it, we purchased it from an old lady in the village.

The corn masa was prepared for grinding, grown and set out in the sun to dry completely before it was packaged for later use.

We also purchased a Thai comal at the local market for a little over 400 baht, on which we will be cooking our tortillas and my wife put on a pot of menudo for our lunch and it was great, served with freshly ground corn tortillas.

I have seen a number of querns around the village, but the Thai's do not really want to sell them. they are great to have and if you ever are offered one for sale, it would be wise to buy it.

Cheers:

[jaideeguy]

While we're talking masa..........

Can anyone tell me WHY there is no masa flour available here from any of the stores, restaurant suppliers or other outlets.................I've checked them all. From this thread and at least 3 or 4 others per year, there IS demand and all we're left with is DIY masa which is fun to do the first time, but after doing the process 4 or 5 times, I would like to just add water to masa flour and be done with it.

Maybe it's storage of the flour, duties, shipping? but I would gladly pay $3 a kilo for the standard 2 kilo bags that they sell in the US. I'm sure that it can be bought in the US or Mexico or maybe even Australia for well under $1/kilo.

[jaideeguy]

Sorry for the double post..............maybe a mod could remove one??

[rice555]

Hello All, jaide you could write the company head offices of your favorite brand of the 2 major dry masa processors or call the the Mexican consulate and talk to the Foreign

Trade Rep., I thought Thai/Mex were trying to increase trade between the two countries?

rice555

[kikoman]

Well Today was Tamale Making day with the yellow Thai dent corn masa,

Started out by mixing the Nixtamal flour with, lard, baking powder, salt and the pork stock from cooking the pork..

Then I placed the New Mexico dried Chile in water and boiled it for 10 minutes, Put it in the blender with some, garlic, onion, oregano.and salt blending it to a puree. Then placed it in a frying pan and mixed it with the pork and pork stock and let it simmer for a while.

As we did not have corn husk, we decided to wrap the tamales in banana leaves.

Placed some masa on the banana leave and a spoonful of pork chile con carne on top, and wrapped up all the tamales we had, placed them in two layers in the steamer and steamed them for an hour..

Then we ate then, they were very good for the 1st time making tamales, the tamales were a little dry, I placed enough lard in them along with the pork stock. It may be a difference in the corn or it may be that I need to put more liquid into the masa. Next time I make them I will test steam a few first and then adjust the ingredient as necessary.

At the end of the day all turned out great, and now armed with the knowledge that we can make tamales out of Thai yellow dent corn, its all up hill from here on.

Cheers:

[bonobo]

Sorry for the double post..............maybe a mod could remove one??

Done.

[bonobo]

Well Today was Tamale Making day with the yellow Thai dent corn masa,

Started out by mixing the Nixtamal flour with, lard, baking powder, salt and the pork stock from cooking the pork..

Then I placed the New Mexico dried Chile in water and boiled it for 10 minutes, Put it in the blender with some, garlic, onion, oregano.and salt blending it to a puree. Then placed it in a frying pan and mixed it with the pork and pork stock and let it simmer for a while.

1.JPG 2.JPG

As we did not have corn husk, we decided to wrap the tamales in banana leaves.

Placed some masa on the banana leave and a spoonful of pork chile con carne on top, and wrapped up all the tamales we had, placed them in two layers in the steamer and steamed them for an hour..

3.JPG 4.JPG

5.JPG 6.JPG

Then we ate then, they were very good for the 1st time making tamales, the tamales were a little dry, I placed enough lard in them along with the pork stock. It may be a difference in the corn or it may be that I need to put more liquid into the masa. Next time I make them I will test steam a few first and then adjust the ingredient as necessary.

6 12.JPG 7.JPG

At the end of the day all turned out great, and now armed with the knowledge that we can make tamales out of Thai yellow dent corn, its all up hill from here on.

Cheers:

They look good!

[bonobo]

You don't really need any kind of machine to make tortillas. I used to live in the Yucatan and the tortillas most highly regarded by the locals were those that were made by hand. They tended to be thicker than machine made tortillas.

I used to eat the handmade ones as a kid in Mexico, and I occasionally got them as an adult on visits as well. I tried to make them myself, but let's say they didn't end up too good.

I just brought back a tortilla press from the US, so I'm ready to try with that now.

[kikoman]

Bonobo.

You are making your corn tortillas out of Maseca, right?

All you need to do is to add a little water and salt to taste (if salt is added) knead in your hand about 5 minutes. When the masa is ready, place a ball of masa in your hand and squeeze it with your thumb in the middle of the masa, if the masa spreads out with out cracking on the edges the masa is ready, if it cracks add a little more water and go over the process again until the edges do not crack when pressure is added with you thumb.

Just mix little batches maybe for three or four small taco tortillas or 2 regular size corn tortillas until you get the mixture right.

When using your tortilla press and if the tortillas stick to the plastic wrap place a little cooking oil on it to stop the sticking.

Keep working at it and you will soon get it right!

If you have a friend that has eaten corn tortillas, let him taste one and give you feed back on it, if it is good, sometimes you do not get the taste you remember and you consider it a failure. ( cooks can be their own worst critics)

Good Luck

Cheers:

[bonobo]

Bonobo.

You are making your corn tortillas out of Maseca, right?

All you need to do is to add a little water and salt to taste (if salt is added) knead in your hand about 5 minutes. When the masa is ready, place a ball of masa in your hand and squeeze it with your thumb in the middle of the masa, if the masa spreads out with out cracking on the edges the masa is ready, if it cracks add a little more water and go over the process again until the edges do not crack when pressure is added with you thumb.

Just mix little batches maybe for three or four small taco tortillas or 2 regular size corn tortillas until you get the mixture right.

When using your tortilla press and if the tortillas stick to the plastic wrap place a little cooking oil on it to stop the sticking.

Keep working at it and you will soon get it right!

If you have a friend that has eaten corn tortillas, let him taste one and give you feed back on it, if it is good, sometimes you do not get the taste you remember and you consider it a failure. ( cooks can be their own worst critics)

Good Luck

Cheers:

Yes, I am making them out of Maseca.

I will try your method to see if the masa is at the right consistency.

I brought back some ready-made tortillas with me this week, so I will make my own and use the ready-made ones tomorrow so my three "tasters" can compare.

[jaideeguy]

So, where did you guys get your maseca?? I'm so desperate for masa flour that I've contacted a few of the companies and may bring in some myself unless I can locate a local source.