Mexican · Main · Hard
Mole Negro
Oaxaca's legendary black mole with chile, chocolate, and a whisper of smoke. Complex, dark, and unforgettable over turkey or chicken.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Mole Negro, in 5 ideas
- Mole negro is one of the seven moles of Oaxaca, the most complex of them all
- Charring the chiles nearly black is what gives the mole its color and smokiness
- The chocolate is a background note, not the star; it adds depth, not sweetness
- Blending until completely smooth is what separates good mole from gritty mole
- Mole freezes beautifully, so make the full batch and save half
What you need
Ingredients
- 6 dried chilhuacle negro or pasilla chiles
- 5 dried mulato and pasilla chiles, mixed
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup peanuts
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1 plantain, sliced and fried
- 1 onion, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tomatoes
- 3 oz Mexican chocolate
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 cups chicken stock
How to make it
Directions
- Toast the chiles in a dry skillet until fragrant, then soak in hot water 20 minutes.
- Toast the sesame seeds, peanuts, and almonds until golden.
- Char the onion, garlic, and tomatoes in the skillet.
- Blend everything with stock into a very smooth puree, working in batches.
- Simmer the mole 45 minutes, stirring often, until dark and thick.
- Stir in the chocolate and cinnamon. Serve over turkey with sesame seeds.
Money saver. Dried chiles from a Latin market cost a fraction of supermarket prices and are much fresher.