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📍 Oaxaca

Mole negro

· Lunch

A home version of the Oaxacan sauce made with dried chiles, seeds, nuts and chocolate, with a dark color and silky texture.

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Mole negro: A home version of the Oaxacan sauce made with dried chiles, seeds, nuts and chocolate, with a dark color and silky texture.
Photo: ProtoplasmaKid · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto resized, converted to WebP and cropped for display.
⏱ 165 min🍽 6 servings📊 Difficult🏷 Commonly associated
Preparation
45 min
Cooking
120 min
Waiting and resting
0 min

History

Mole negro is part of festive cooking in Oaxaca. Ingredients and techniques vary between families and communities; this version uses a shorter ingredient list for home cooking.

Ingredients

Adjust quantities

Only numeric quantities at the start of an ingredient are adjusted. Descriptive quantities, seasoning to taste and timings remain unchanged; check them when changing servings.

Preparation

  1. 1

    Toast the chiles briefly on each side without burning. Soak in hot water 20 minutes, then drain.

  2. 2

    Heat the lard in a casserole. Brown the sesame seeds, nuts and plantain separately, removing each before it burns.

  3. 3

    Blend the chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic, bread, spices and browned ingredients in batches with some stock to make a fine paste.

  4. 4

    Fry the paste over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the remaining stock and chocolate.

  5. 5

    Simmer gently for 60-90 minutes, stirring frequently. Add stock if too thick and adjust the salt. The sauce should coat a spoon.

Cooking tips

  • Add chocolate gradually and taste: some tablets contain a lot of sugar.

References to consult

References provide information about the dish, its context or a technique. Quantities in this version may differ from those in the source.

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