From mole powder to a sauce
Dry mole is not a sauce mix you tip into liquid. It goes through a paste on the way, and the pan does the work in two stages rather than one.
Sauce pan
Mole Poblano
The Puebla recipe: chiles, cacao, tortilla, sesame
5.0 from 6 ratingsFrom $31.99Price shown at our last check and set by the store, not by us.
The comal work is done before the powder goes in the pouch. We toast the tortillas, grind the three chiles, roast the sesame and work in Mexican cacao with warm spices. You stir a paste together, add warm broth, and let the pot take over. It turns glossy and thick on the stove in minutes. That is Sunday dinner done without the long afternoon of grinding.
Simmered on the back burner while chicken poaches on the front.
One pouch
1 kg
A serving here is a weight, not a glass. We divide the pouch by the number of servings printed on it, so the grams add up whatever size cup you drink from.
What goes into it
Toasted base
Tortilla toasted dark on the comal gives this Puebla recipe its body. We blend it fine with sesame seeds, Mexican cacao, three chiles and spices so the sauce coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Building the sauce
Whisk the powder with warm broth in a bowl to make a paste, then slide it into a hot pan with more broth. It thickens steadily as it sits, so add extra liquid to keep it loose.
Watch the pot
The cacao and toasted ingredients will catch on the bottom of the pan if the heat is high. Keep the flame low. Stir the pot often while it simmers down to a deep gloss.
At the table
This is the wedding and holiday mole most tables expect. Spoon it warm over shredded chicken, braised turkey, corn tortillas folded for enmoladas, or a platter of tamales.
Before you open it
The pages that carry the ratios and the timings for this one.
Made the same way
Loosened into broth until the surface shines.
Sauce pan
Mole Oaxaqueno
A dry mole mix of three chiles, cacao and toasted tortilla, ready to stir into hot broth and simmer down.
4.1 from 14 ratings
500 g
Mole Poblano
A dry mole mix built on toasted tortilla, three chiles and Mexican cacao that simmers into a rich Puebla sauce.