Mole poblano is the national dish of Mexico and one of the most complex preparations in any cuisine in the world. It is a sauce (dark, rich, barely sweet, and deeply savoury) built from at least four different dried chilli varieties (ancho, mulato, pasilla, and chipotle), roasted tomatoes and tomatillos, charred onion and garlic, toasted nuts, spices, stale bread, tortilla, and a small quantity of Mexican chocolate. The sauce cooks for hours and achieves a depth of flavour that comes from the Layering of the Maillard reaction, the bitterness of the chilli skins, the earthiness of the cumin and cloves, and the strange, irreplaceable umami of the chocolate. The legend of its creation (attributed to nuns of the Convent of Santa Catalina in Puebla who allegedly improvised the dish for a visiting archbishop in the 16th or 17th century) is almost certainly apocryphal, but the dish's Pueblan identity is genuine. What is certain is that mole poblano represents the foundational genius of Mexican cuisine: the ability to take the chilli pepper (the oldest domesticated crop of Mesoamerica) and transform it, through time and accumulation of flavour, into something of extraordinary complexity.
Ingredients
Chillies
4 dried ancho chillies, stems and seeds removed
3 dried mulato chillies, stems and seeds removed
2 dried pasilla chillies, stems and seeds removed
2 dried chipotle chillies (or 2 chipotles in adobo)
Produce
4 medium tomatoes, halved
2 tomatillos, husked and halved
Base
1 onion, halved and charred
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
Nuts and seeds
50 g blanched almonds
30 g sesame seeds
30 g pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
Thickening
2 slices day-old white bread, toasted
1 corn tortilla, torn and toasted
Chocolate
40 g Mexican chocolate (or dark chocolate with a pinch of cinnamon)
Spice
1 tsp ground cumin
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
3 whole cloves
Fat
1 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
Liquid
500 ml chicken stock
Seasoning
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp sugar (optional, to balance)
To serve
6 chicken thighs or legs, to serve
Method
Toast the dried chillies in a dry heavy pan over medium heat for 30–60 seconds per side until fragrant and slightly puffed: do not burn them. Transfer to a bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 30 minutes.
In the same pan, char the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion halves, and garlic (in their skins) over high heat until blackened on the surfaces. Set aside.
In the same pan, lightly toast the almonds, sesame seeds, and pepitas separately, watching each carefully. In a separate dry pan, toast the cumin, cinnamon, and cloves for 30 seconds. Set aside.
Drain the soaked chillies, reserving 200ml of the soaking liquid. Peel the charred garlic.
In batches, blend the soaked chillies with the reserved soaking liquid until smooth. Separately blend the charred vegetables (tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, garlic). Blend the nuts, seeds, toasted bread, and tortilla with some chicken stock.
Heat the lard in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Carefully pour in the chilli purée: it will spit and sizzle. Fry, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes until darkened and fragrant.
Add the vegetable purée. Fry for another 5 minutes. Add the nut paste and fry for 5 more minutes. Add the spices.
Pour in the remaining stock. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cook, partially covered and stirring often, for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The mole should thicken to a glossy, deep-dark sauce.
Add the chocolate. Stir until melted and incorporated. Season with salt and sugar. Taste: the mole should be complex: earthy, slightly bitter, faintly sweet, deeply savoury.
Season and brown the chicken pieces in a separate pan. Add to the mole and braise for 30–35 minutes over low heat until cooked through. Serve over rice, topped with sesame seeds.
Notes
Mole poblano genuinely improves with age, many Mexican families make it 2–3 days ahead. The recipe makes more sauce than you will need; freeze the excess in 200ml portions. Day-old mole used to braise chicken a second day is the highest expression of the dish. Authentic mole uses turkey (guajolote) rather than chicken, if available, braised turkey thighs are the traditional preparation.
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