Mole negro

Ingredients

Chiles

• 8chilhuacle negro chiles, stemmed and seeded, seeds reserved
• 6chilhuacle rojo chiles, stemmed and seeded, seeds reserved
• 6pasilla mexicano chiles, stemmed and seeded, seeds reserved
• 6mulato chiles, stemmed and seeded, seeds reserved
• 4guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded, seeds reserved

Seeds, nuts and fruit

• 80 gsesame seeds
• 60 gwhole almonds
• 60 gpeanuts
• 40 gpumpkin seeds
• 60 graisins
• 1ripe plantain, sliced thick
• 2corn tortillas, torn
• 1thick slice of stale bread

Aromatics and spice

• 6tomatillos, husked
• 3tomatoes
• 1white onion, quartered
• 1 headof garlic, cloves peeled
• 1 stickMexican canela (5 cm)
• 6cloves
• 8allspice berries
• 1 tspblack peppercorns
• 2 tspdried Mexican oregano
• 3 sprigsthyme
• 3dried avocado leaves, toasted

To finish

• 200 mllard or corn oil, for frying
• 90 gchocolate de Oaxaca (tablilla), chopped
• 2.5 litresturkey or chicken broth
• 2 tbspsugar, or to taste
• Salt

To serve

• 1turkey, jointed and poached, or 2 whole chickens
• Sesame seeds and white rice

Directions

1. Toast the chiles on a dry comal over medium heat, pressing them flat, 20–30 seconds a side, until they smell sweet and darken slightly but never turn acrid. Soak them in hot water for 30 minutes.
2. Now make the black. Put all the reserved chile seeds in a dry pan or on the comal and burn them deliberately, over high heat and with the extractor on or a window open, until they are truly black and smoking, about 5–8 minutes. Rinse them, then soak them separately in cold water for 20 minutes to draw off the worst of the bitterness. This burnt-seed step is what makes mole negro black and is unique to this mole.
3. Fry each of the remaining ingredients separately in the lard, in this order: almonds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame, plantain, bread, tortillas, raisins. Each goes in until golden or puffed, 30 seconds to 2 minutes, then comes out into a bowl. Frying them together burns some and leaves others raw.
4. Char the tomatillos, tomatoes, onion and garlic on the dry comal until blistered and blackened in patches, about 10 minutes.
5. Toast the canela, cloves, allspice, peppercorns, oregano, thyme and avocado leaves for 30 seconds until fragrant, then grind them to a powder.
6. Blend in batches, with a little broth, until completely smooth: first the soaked chiles, then the burnt seeds, then the fried nuts and bread, then the charred vegetables. Pass every batch through a fine sieve, pressing hard. Oaxacan cooks grind three times; a gritty mole is a failed mole.
7. Heat the remaining lard in a wide, heavy cazuela until it shimmers, then pour in the chile paste all at once. It will spit violently, so stand back and use a lid as a shield.
8. Fry the paste, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 15–20 minutes. It darkens, thickens, and finally the fat separates and beads on the surface. This is sazonar, the single most important step, and without it the mole tastes raw and flat.
9. Add the nut and vegetable pastes, the ground spices, and fry 10 minutes more, then let the broth down into it a ladle at a time, stirring smooth after each addition.
10. Simmer very gently, uncovered, for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, stirring often and scraping the base, until it coats a spoon thickly and a slick of dark red oil rises. Melt in the chocolate in the last 20 minutes with the sugar and salt.
11. Taste and balance. Mole negro should be bitter, smoky, sweet, and hot in that order, never sugary. Serve poured over poached turkey or chicken, with sesame seeds scattered over, plain rice and hot tortillas.

Technique

• Mole negro is the king of the seven moles of Oaxaca and is cooked for weddings, funerals and Day of the Dead, usually by several people over two days. It is not a weekday dish.
• Chilhuacle negro is the defining chile and grows almost only in the Canada region of Oaxaca. It is expensive and often scarce; without it the mole is still good, but it is properly a mole negro only with it.
• The burnt seeds are the technique that most cooks get wrong. They must be truly carbonised for colour, then rinsed and soaked, or the whole pot turns inedibly bitter. Ventilate the kitchen; the smoke is fierce.
• Mole improves overnight and freezes well as a thick paste, which is how it is sold in Oaxacan markets, to be let down with broth at home.

Substitutions

• No chilhuacle negro: use 4 more pasilla mexicano and 2 ancho, and add 1 extra dried avocado leaf. The mole will be less earthy and a shade browner.
• No dried avocado leaf: a few fennel seeds and a bay leaf give a hint of the same anise-herb note, though it is a real loss.
• Corn oil replaces the lard with little loss of flavour, and is what many Oaxacan cooks now use.

Variations

• Mole coloradito is the red sibling, built on ancho and guajillo with no burnt seeds and much less chocolate.
• Mole chichilo, the rarest of the seven, uses burnt chile seeds and burnt tortilla but no chocolate or nuts, and is thickened with masa.
• Leftover mole is served the next day over enfrijoladas or folded into tamales de mole wrapped in banana leaf.

History

The most complex of Oaxaca’s seven moles, built on chilhuacle negro chiles charred until black; served over turkey at weddings and Day of the Dead.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mole negro?

Mole negro is a main from Mexico: oaxaca’s darkest mole, thick with chilhuacle chiles, seeds and chocolate. The most complex of Oaxaca’s seven moles, built on chilhuacle negro chiles charred until black; served over turkey at weddings and Day of the Dead.

How long does Mole negro take to make?

Mole negro takes 2 hr of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 10–12 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Mole negro?

Yes, within limits. No chilhuacle negro: use 4 more pasilla mexicano and 2 ancho, and add 1 extra dried avocado leaf. The mole will be less earthy and a shade browner. No dried avocado leaf: a few fennel seeds and a bay leaf give a hint of the same anise-herb note, though it is a real loss. Corn oil replaces the lard with little loss of flavour, and is what many Oaxacan cooks now use.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mole negro?

Toast the chiles on a dry comal over medium heat, pressing them flat, 20–30 seconds a side, until they smell sweet and darken slightly but never turn acrid. Soak them in hot water for 30 minutes.