Mole Poblano
Time to complete
about 3 hours
Serving size
4 to 6
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What You Need
Ingredients
Preparation
Mole poblano is a rich, flavorful sauce with over twenty ingredients, making it one of the most complex moles to make. It’s a labor of love that requires frying each ingredient separately and then cooking the mole paste for over an hour to concentrate its flavor. You’ll need a high-powered blender here—or a stone molcajete, if you feel like tapping into tradition and grinding everything by hand. Making your own mole is time consuming, but this recipe will give you extra paste for future meals.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make the mole paste: In a HexClad 3QT/3L Hybrid Saucepan, bring 1 quart/1 liter of water to boil over high heat. Remove from heat and add chiles, prunes, and raisins, stirring to make sure everything is submerged. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Strain solids through a fine mesh sieve and reserve both solids and liquid. Wipe out saucepan.
- Melt 2 tablespoons lard in a HexClad 10"/25 cm Hybrid Fry Pan over medium heat. Add almonds, peanuts, and pecans. Cook until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Toast sesame seeds in same pan until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add to the bowl.
- Melt 2 tablespoons lard and fry tortilla and bread until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add to nut bowl. Melt 1 tablespoon lard and toast cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and allspice berries for 1 minute. Grind to a fine powder.
- Melt 1 tablespoon lard and cook plantain, onion, tomato, and garlic until soft, about 10 minutes.
- In batches, blend chile mixture, nut mixture, plantain mixture, ground spices, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon salt. Add reserved soaking liquid as needed until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.
- In a HexClad 8QT stockpot, melt remaining 2 tablespoons lard. Add mole paste, stock, and chocolate. Cover and cook on low, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Continue cooking until paste thickens and oil separates, about 30 minutes. Let cool and store. Makes about 6 cups/940 grams.
- Cook the chicken: Fill a HexClad 8QT/7.5 L Hybrid Stock Pot halfway with salted water. Bring to a boil. Add chicken and simmer, covered, for 35 minutes. Keep warm in poaching liquid.
- In a HexClad 3QT/3L Hybrid Saucepan, boil 2 cups/473 ml of poaching liquid. Add 3 cups/700 grams mole paste and whisk until smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt.
- Serve: Remove chicken from broth and place 1–2 pieces per plate. Spoon mole generously over chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with rice if desired.
NOTE
If you can’t find mulato chiles, use ancho chiles instead (5 total for the recipe). Buy ancho chiles here.
MAKE AHEAD
The mole paste can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 3 months.
