Quote:
Originally Posted by AnnaJW
That makes me want to try making tamales with banana leaves. I'll bet they steam up great!
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We have something similar in Puerto Rico (also Dominican Republic and a few other locations) called "pasteles". It's not the corn meal used in tamales, it's ground up green bananas, green plantain, pumpkins, and elephant ear tubers mashed into a paste and filled with meat (cubed pork or chicken or beef or even cornedbeef) all wrapped up a banana leaf (softened by passing the leaf over fire) and wax paper and boiled. One can substitute the wax paper with aluminum foil BUT you can't substitute the banana leaf - it actually adds flavor. You discard the leaf before eating.
Same goes with some steamed rice. Adding a banana leaf on top while it's steaming adds some flavor ( you remove the leaf once it's done ).