Steamed · Sunday Tamale
Nacatamal
📷 Closely related photo — Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use
One nacatamal can weigh close to a pound — Sunday morning in Nicaragua basically runs on this single dish.
Coarse corn masa is packed with pork or chicken, rice, potato, tomato, mint, and sometimes olives or raisins, wrapped tightly in banana leaves, and boiled for hours. Families prep them Saturday night so vendors can sell them hot on Sunday mornings.
Why it's made this way: The banana-leaf wrap seals in moisture through a long boil and perfumes the masa as it cooks, which is why the weekly ritual of making a big batch for Sunday became a fixture of Nicaraguan family life.
Roughly what's in it
550kcal
20gprotein
60gcarbs
25gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.
More from Nicaragua
Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries.
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