Ed's Tamales

Preparation:

1. Soak the corn husks in really hot water, completely covered, and press on them to get all the air out and to make sure they get water in between each husk, for about an hour, I usually start soaking them when I finish shredding the meat, before making the chili sauce and finishing the meat.

Filling:

1. Cut the pork into 2-3 inch cubes, and place it with the bay leave, onion, and 3 cloves of garlic in a pot with about a gallon of water, bring to a boil over high heat, and then turn it to medium-low and let it cook for about 2 hours, or until the meat when picked with a fork is super tender and fall apart easily.
2. Take out the meat, and shred it, it needs to be super finely shredded, and do not get rid of the fat, mash it and mix it in(just the fat, not the weird tissue)
3. Reserve the onion, and strain and reserve the broth
4. Remove the seeds and the veins of the dried chiles, rinse them and put them in a pot and add water until they are all submerged, add the peppercorns and cloves, and boil them for about 10 minutes to soften them, once soft, take them out of the water, and put them in a blender with the cloves, peppercorns, and the 3 raw cloves of garlic(not the ones you used in the meat) and add the reserved cooked onion, the cumin and the salt, use a bit of the water in which the chiles boiled, just enough to blend easily, the consistency should be a heavy sauce/paste.
5. Put a couple of tablespoons of lard in a pan, and heat it, add the shredded pork, and let it fry for a few minutes, then add the chile sauce (reserve about 3 tablespoons for the masa, or a bit more), add the apple cider vinegar, and let it cook for a couple of minutes and taste, the flavor should be a bit overseasoned, a bit salty and a bit cuminy, but good in general (rectify if you need to add more salt or pepper or cumin)(some of the flavor gets lost when steaming, and some gets absorbed by the masa, but not much)

Masa:

1. Mix the Maseca, baking powder and salt in a big bowl, and add little by little the broth and mix it, until you get a firm masa, that is manageable and doesn't stick to your hands, kind of like a play-dough, soft, firm, terse and manageable.
2. Appart, put the lard in another bowl, and add the ice chips, and with a whisk, mix it fast and with some force, you will see the lard will start blanching, and getting a bit of volume, mix it for about 10 minutes, until the lard is blanched(looks white) and creamed. This will make the tamales soft and fluffy.
3. Once the lard is ready, start adding it to the masa, not all, but start with about half of it, and add as needed, mix the masa with the lard by hand, and mix it very thoroughly, it will start to fluff up and become sticky, keep mixing, and when you think you've mixed it enough, mix some more, put a dollop of it in a glass with water, if it immediately floats, the masa is ready, if it sinks, you need to add more lard and mix way more.
4. Once you have the masa ready, and it floats, add the chile sauce you reserved, it will tint the masa a reddish pink, test again to make sure it still floats, the consistency should be something akin to porridge, it sticks to your hands, and it's soft, but not runny, and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
5. Drain the husks, and look for the shiny waxy side, that is the side where you will put the masa in. Cut them about 5 in long on the bottom side(they are somewhat triangular).
6. You will spread about 1/4 of a cup of the masa or a bit more, on the husk, about 2/3rds of it covered, the bottom 2/3rds, it should be about the thickness of maybe 1/16 of an inch or a bit thicker, this is tricky, use a hard spatula or the back of a spoon, once spread, put about a tablespoon of the filling a bit off centered, and fold in 3, first fold over the filling, and the other one overall, and then fold the top 1/3rd of the husk that had no masa or filling over.
7. Get the steamer ready by putting some broth, or water with chicken bouillon, and then the steamer, put some husks on top of the steamer and then put the tamales in, with the opening(where you can see the masa/filling) upwards. Cover them with more husks, to keep the steam and heat in, and put the lid of the steamer.
8. Steam them for about 1 hr, on medium, or until you take one out and it comes off the husk easily and the masa is fluffy and cooked. The masa will look more fully and be softer but should be cooked(you can taste a bit of raw masa before you make the tamales, and then you'll know what it tastes like and looks like cooked). Take them off the heat and let them rest for half an hour(they will lose some of the fluff and become a bit firmer)