Ayocote negro (Phaseolus coccineus) is the highland bean of Mesoamerica (large, meaty, and earthy, domesticated in the cloud forests of Guatemala and Chiapas long before the common bean spread across the lowlands. In Oaxaca and the central Mexican highlands it remains the prestige bean, served at festivals and family celebrations rather than everyday meals. Its size and density mean it holds its shape through long braises and absorbs deep, complex sauces in a way that smaller P. vulgaris beans cannot. Mole negro) Oaxaca's darkest and most revered sauce: is built from toasted dried chiles, charred tomato, fried spices, and Mexican chocolate, given its signature near-black colour by fully toasting the chile seeds to the edge of burning. The combination of ayocote negro and mole negro is one of the oldest flavour pairings in Mesoamerican cooking, predating the arrival of European ingredients by millennia. This is festive food: slow, deliberate, and deeply satisfying.
Ingredients
Beans
500 g dried ayocote negro beans (or dried runner beans), soaked overnight in cold water
1 white onion, halved (for cooking beans)
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled (for cooking beans)
Mole
3 dried mulato chiles, stems and seeds removed (seeds reserved)
3 dried ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed (seeds reserved)
2 dried chipotle chiles, stems removed
1 tbsp reserved chile seeds (toasted)
3 medium tomatoes, halved
4 tomatillos, husked and halved
1 white onion, roughly chopped (for mole)
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled (for mole)
50 g Mexican chocolate (such as Ibarra) or dark chocolate (70%), roughly broken
Spice
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
3 cloves, toasted
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano (or marjoram)
Fat
4 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
Liquid
750 ml bean cooking liquid or vegetable stock, warmed
Seasoning
1 tsp salt, or to taste
Method
Drain the soaked beans. Place in a large pot with the halved onion, unpeeled garlic cloves, and enough cold water to cover by 5cm. Bring to a boil, skim any foam, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook for 1.5–2 hours until the beans are completely tender but still holding their shape. Season with salt in the final 15 minutes. Reserve 750ml of the cooking liquid. Drain and set aside.
In a dry comal or heavy frying pan over high heat, toast the mulato, ancho, and chipotle chiles for 30–45 seconds per side until fragrant and beginning to blister (do not burn. Place in a bowl, cover with hot water, and soak for 20 minutes until pliable. Reserve 250ml of the soaking water. Separately, toast the reserved chile seeds in the dry pan until dark brown) nearly burnt. Set aside.
In the same pan over high heat, char the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, and garlic (in their skins) until blackened in patches: 8–10 minutes, turning occasionally. Peel the garlic once cool enough to handle.
Drain the rehydrated chiles (reserving their soaking liquid). In a blender, combine the chiles, toasted seeds, charred tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, peeled garlic, chocolate, cumin, cloves, and oregano. Add 250ml of the reserved soaking water. Blend on high until completely smooth: at least 2 minutes. The mole should be very dark, almost black.
Heat the lard or oil in a large, deep pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Carefully pour in the blended mole: it will spatter. Fry the mole, stirring constantly, for 8–10 minutes until it darkens further, thickens, and the fat begins to separate around the edges.
Add the warm bean cooking liquid gradually, stirring to incorporate. Simmer the mole for 20 minutes until it thickens to a sauce that coats the back of a spoon. Season with salt.
Add the cooked ayocote negro beans to the mole and stir gently to coat. Simmer together for 15 minutes on low heat, allowing the beans to absorb the sauce. Adjust consistency with additional stock or cooking liquid as needed: the mole should be thick but pourable.
Serve in deep bowls with warm corn tortillas. Garnish with a drizzle of crema (Mexican sour cream) and a few sesame seeds if desired.
Notes
Ayocote negro are available from Mexican and Latin American grocers, or online. Dried runner beans (available in most supermarkets) are a genuine substitute (they are the same species. The mole can be made 2–3 days ahead and refrigerated; it improves with time. Reheat gently and thin with a little stock. The dish also works beautifully with turkey or pork added alongside the beans for a feast version) brown the meat first and finish it in the mole with the beans.
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