Making Tamales, Ortega 120 Style

By Bryan Tsunoda on December 13th, 2012

I first caught notice of Ortega 120 when LA Times food critic, Irene Virbila, reviewed the restaurant back in 2008. Despite her impeccable credentials, I couldn’t believe that a quality Mexican restaurant could possibly exist in the South Bay. Venice? Maybe. Santa Monica? Perhaps. Mid City? Definitely.

A close friend of my wife and I gave us an early Christmas present; a “Tamales 101” cooking class at Ortega 120 in Redondo Beach. The class is held in a covered patio area directly off the street. It’s extremely shielded from the elements and in fact, they also have propane heaters and a portable fireplace to warm up the area. I was delighted to see both co-owner and Executive Chef, Thomas Ortega and co-owner and Mixologist Demi Stevens co-teach our class.

Co-owner and Executive Chef, Thomas Ortega

Even prior to Ortega 120, Chef Ortega worked at notable restaurants such as Water Grill, Lucques and Patina. Many chefs would rather remain in the kitchen, but the audience seemed to appreciate learning about his family background and what drove his passion. His grandmother made tamales in the style typical of the Chihuahua region. He added that the moistness of the masa varied on the region and southern regions often had banana leaves.

El guacamole delicioso

Chips, salsa and guacamole were served to each table. Biting into the chip, you can immediately detect that they were not premade. Their salsa roja was flavorful and had the right amount of heat.

A tasty guacamole is one of my vices and in fact, my sister-in-law really knows how to prepare it well. Ortega 120’s chunky version with Haas avocados was extremely addicting. I kept reminding myself that there would be food forthcoming, but I couldn’t resist eating it.

Masa and the fixings

After the masa has been spread on to the corn husk

Then layer it with your fixings

Fold both sides and then fold the end that narrows

We were each served a plate that had everything required to create our tamales. A huge mound of masa dominated the plate. Cheese, green chiles, grilled onions, carnitas and carne asada were provided as additions. Chef Ortega then demonstrated by taking a dried corn husk, spreading a layer of masa on it, but not quite to the edges, and then topping the masa with layers of meat and cheese. He also demonstrated the proper way to fold the husk over the filling to create the perfect seal.

Stack your tamales inside of parchment paper and tape the outside with masking tape

After re-steaming them at home, this is how they ended up

After placing our tamales in parchment paper, they were taken back to the kitchen to be steamed. While we waited for our tamales to be steamed, they served us more food

carnitas and carne asada tacos w/ housemade tortillas

carnitas and pollo tacos w/ housemade tortillas

Delicious churros

Co-owner and award winning Mixologist, Demi Stevens took over with an introduction to tequila or “Mini Tequila 101”. She gave us an overview of tequila and added that the key to a successful drink is to correctly portion the alcohol to something sweet and something sour.

Co-owner and Mixologist Demi Stevens

Demi’s knowledge is extensive and in fact, she authored a drink recipe book titled “Shut up and drink”. Unlike many others that promote their own offerings, Demi provided invaluable information on how you can create top-notch drinks at home. An example she used was a cranberry liqueur that is available to her at $11 per bottle. She said that we can purchase it at Home Goods in Torrance for only $4.99 per bottle.

Cranberry & orange infused tequila

espicy mango w/ pico de gallo seasoning

Ortega 120 has different theme menus such as Monday Night Football on Mondays. Tuesday is Taco Tuesday and various live music throughout the week. The passion of both co-owners is evident as they continue to produce delicious food and drink. I highly recommend a visit.