Mole is a staple of Mexican cuisine, it is a deeply flavored sauce with great complexity. It has a bit of everything: sweetness, smokiness, spiciness, fruitiness, but it is essentially a savory sauce, kind of like curry.
This recipe is for three creative mole sauces, from the basic mole poblano to hibiscus and mango varieties. We’ll be using the mole poblano (from the state of Puebla, México) as a base that we can transform into a luxurious sauce well into the realms of haute cuisine, right there in your home kitchen.
Almost all the ingredients are easy to find. The kind of dried chilies (mulato, ancho and pasilla) used in this authentic mole can be trickier to find (depending on where you are) but are readily available from several online stores worldwide. Here’s an example from the US, aptly named, “The Chile Guy“.
For utensils, you’ll need to ready:
- Scale
- Iron griddle or flat pan
- Sauté pan
- Blender
- Mortar or coffee grinder
Instructions
Basic Mole Poblano (1.5 kg / 2.2 lbs)
- 100 g Mulato chilies
- 30 g Ancho chilies
- 30 g Pasilla chilies
- +20 g of chilli seeds from the previous chillies
- 50 g, whole almonds
- 50 g peeled pumpkin seeds
- 250 g tomatillos (green tomatoes)
- 250 g tomatoes
- 2 fresh jalapeño chillies
- 1/2 onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 corn tortillas
- 25 g dried raisins
- 3 cloves
- 10 whole peppercorns
- 1 medium cinammon branch
- 25 g toasted sesame seeds
- 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbso fresh thyme
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 25 g brown sugar
- 50 g dark chocolate
- 40 ml Olive oil
Place all the chilies (mulato, ancho, and pasilla) in a medium sized pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover and rest for 5-10 minutes.
Drain, and remove the seeds and veins. Save 20 grams of chilli seeds.
Lightly toast, using an iron griddle or flat plan, 20g of dried chili seeds, the almonds, pumpkin seeds, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon branch and the sesame seeds. Ground using a mortar or a coffee grinder.
Place an iron griddle or flat pan over medium heat. Grill (everything has to be almost burnt) the tomatillos, tomatoes, jalapeños, onion and garlic cloves.
Heat 20ml olive oil in a frying pan, add the tortillas and fry until light brown and crispy. Remove from the oil and add the raisins. Fry for 1 minute, drain, and set aside.
Take a little bit of everything (seeded chilies, toasted seeds and spices, tomatillos, tomatoes, jalapeños, onion and garlic cloves, fried tortillas and raisins) and blend until smooth, adding a little water as necessary. Heat 20 ml olive oil in a medium stockpot and add the previous blended mix. Bring to a a boil and add sugar, chocolate and a little salt. Bring the heat to a minimum and let simmer, stirring and scraping the bottom occasionally, for 30 minutes. Season to taste and set aside.
The consistency of the mole has to be like any sauce, not too thick, not too runny. To make it lighter, add chicken stock. To make it thicker, simmer to the desired consistency.
Hibscus mole
- ½ recipe for basic mole
- 200 ml water
- 50 g dried hibiscus flowers
- 1 cup chicken stock
Hibiscus infusion: Boil 200ml water and add the dried hibiscus flowers. Cover and let infuse for 5 minutes.
Heat the basic mole in a stockpot and add 1 cup chicken stock. Strain and add the hibiscus infusion to the mole. Boil and let simmer for a few minutes until the mole has a nice sauce consistency. Season to taste and serve.
Mango mole
- ½ recipe for basic mole
- 200 ml water
- 4 Ataulfo or Manila fresh mangos
- 1 cup chicken stock
For this version, OMIT the tomatillos in the basic mole recipe and substitute with the same quantity of tomatoes. Using mangos and tomatillos would produce a pretty acidic mole.
Everything else being constant, peel and dice the mangos. Blend until smooth with 1 cup chicken stock.
Heat the basic mole in a stockpot and add the mango chicken stock. Boil and let simmer for a few minutes until the mole has a nice sauce consistency. Season to taste and serve.
Cuitlacoche mole
- ½ recipe for basic mole
- 200 ml water
- 1, 380g canned cuitlacoche or huitlacoche (corn mushroom)
- 1 cup chicken stock
Blend the cuitlacoche with 1 cup chicken stock until smooth.
Heat the basic mole in a stockpot and add the cuitlacoche chicken stock. Boil and let simmer for a few minutes until the mole has a nice sauce consistency. Season to taste and serve.
Recipe notes
Traditionally mole in Mexico is served with chicken, rice and tortillas. So here are a few basic instructions to serve mole:
Cook 1 chicken thigh and 1 chicken leg per person (in water with a piece of onion, 1 garlic clove, salt and a few fresh cilantro leaves.).
White rice: Measure 1 cup of plain white rice. Fry in a little olive oil, add two cups water, season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil, cover and simmer in a really low fire until rice is cooked. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.
Heat the mole and serve with 2 pieces of chicken per person and a side of white rice. Accompany with corn tortillas. That would be the most traditional , simple way of serving mole. But mole is really a sauce, a luxurious, complex sauce that can work in other contexts.
Especially these kinds of creative moles. You can prepare a simple grilled chicken thigh with mango mole, and sautéed mixed mushrooms. Or how about a grilled filet of fish, any fish you like, and serve it with a luxurious cuitlacoche mole (this mole has a beautiful dark color) and a side of pureed sweet potato. That would be a colorful plate!
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