Make Mole Sauce

Mole sauce is a rich, deep, pepper and spice based sauce often poured over chicken in Mexican cooking. Traditional mole sauce is made completely from scratch with homemade chicken stock and reconstituted dried peppers. The ingredients simmer for several hours and deepen in both color and flavor over time. If you want to learn how to make delicious mole sauce, keep reading.

Ingredients

  • 5 cups chicken stock
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 2 chicken backs
    • 1 carrot
    • 1 onion
    • 5 cups water
  • 1/4 cup raw unsalted peanuts
  • 1/4 cup raw unsalted almonds
  • 1/4 cup lard
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 8 black peppercorns
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
  • 6 dried ancho peppers
  • 3 dried pasilla peppers
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 medium onion
  • 3 small tomatoes
  • 3 ounces Mexican chocolate
  • 4 teaspoons salt

Steps

Making the Stock

  1. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large stockpot. Heat the oil on medium high until it swirls easily in the pot.
  2. Brown the chicken backs in the oil. Place them in the pot and let them brown on one side for about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken backs over and let them brown on the other side.
  3. Chop the carrot and onion. Chop the vegetables roughly and place them in the pot.
  4. Add 5 cups of water. Pour the water over the chicken and vegetables.
  5. Bring the mixture to a boil. Turn up the heat to medium high and watch the mixture closely.
  6. Reduce it to a simmer. Just as it begins to boil, bring the heat down to a simmer.
  7. Cover the pot and cook for 1 hour or more. Let the flavors meld together to make a flavorful stock. If you have extra time, you can cook it for up to 2 hours.
  8. Drain the stock into a bowl. Pour the mixture through a colander and collect the broth in a bowl. Discard the chicken backs and vegetables.
  9. Set the stock aside. You'll need it soon to make your mole sauce.
    • If you want to skip the stock-making step, you can use store-bought stock.
    • You can use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock if you prefer.

Preparing the Nuts and Raisins

  1. Melt the lard in a skillet. Place the lard in the skillet and melt it over medium high heat, until it's clear and swirls easily in the pan.
    • If you don't want to use lard, you can use vegetable oil or peanut oil in its place.
    • If you have roasted peanuts and almonds instead of raw nuts, skip this step.
  2. Place the peanuts and almonds in the pan. Roast them in the lard, stirring often, until they turn golden brown, which should take about 5 minutes.[1]
  3. Add the raisins. Sauté the raisins with the nuts until they are soft, about 1 more minute.
  4. Remove the mixture from heat and pour the nuts and raisins into the blender.
  5. Add a cup of chicken stock and blend well.
  6. Set the mixture aside.

Toasting and Grinding the Spices

  1. Heat a dry skillet over medium high heat. Don't add oil or lard.
  2. Pour the spices into the skillet. Add the cinnamon, whole cumin seeds, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, and sesame seeds.
  3. Toast the spices. Stir them with a wooden spoon and toast until the spices become fragrant, about 4 minutes.
  4. Grind the spices. Pour the spices into a blender or use a mortar and pestle to grind them to a fine powder.
  5. Set the spice powder aside.

Processing the Peppers

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Place the ancho and papilla peppers on a baking sheet. There's no need to add oil.
  3. Roast the peppers for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven when they're fragrant.
  4. Soak the peppers. Place the ancho and papilla peppers in a large bowl and pour 2 cups of hot or boiling water over the peppers. Let the peppers soak for about half an hour. They're ready for the next step when they've become soft and pliable. Tug at one of the stems; if it loosens easily, the peppers are ready.
  5. Seed and stem the peppers. Remove the stems from the peppers. Slice them lengthwise and scrape out all of the seeds. Place the peppers back into the bowl with the water, which now holds a lot of the peppers' flavor.
  6. Blend the peppers. Put them in the blender, along with the water, and blend on high until you have a smooth paste.
  7. Scrape the paste into a bowl and set it aside.

Simmering the Sauce

  1. Prepare the vegetables. Chop the tomato and onion and peel the garlic, then place them on a baking sheet.
  2. Roast the vegetables. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast the vegetables until they are soft, about 15 minutes.
  3. Blend the vegetables with 1 cup of chicken stock. Place the vegetables and stock in the blender and blend until smooth.
  4. Transfer the vegetable and stock mixture to a large stockpot.
  5. Set the stockpot on a burner turned to medium low.
  6. Add the remaining chicken stock.
  7. Add the remaining ingredients and mixtures. Pour in the spice mixture, the pepper paste, the nut mixture, the salt, and the Mexican chocolate.
  8. Simmer the sauce for 2 hours. Keep it at a simmer and stir it frequently over the next two hours, making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. The flavors will meld and change over time. After two hours, taste the sauce and add more salt as needed.[1]

Using Mole Sauce

  1. Make mole enchiladas. Stuff corn tortillas with shredded chicken, beef or vegetables and pour mole sauce on top before baking.
  2. Make chicken mole. Pour the sauce over freshly roasted or grilled chicken, and serve with Mexican rice on the side.
  3. Make Make Vegan Mole. Use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, and vegetable oil instead of lard. Pour the sauce over vegetables or tofu and serve.
  4. Make Make Mexican Beef and Beans. Prepare steak or ground beef with Mexican spices, and make Mexican pinto beans as well. Pour mole sauce over the dish.

Tips

  • Use unsweetened milk chocolate, and you can manually add sugar or a banana. But if you use sweetened milk chocolate, adding sugar or a banana is unnecessary.

Warnings

  • Make sure that you boil the peppers and rinse off the mold that collects on each pepper. The mold is not much of a health concern, but it is slightly toxic. The peppers tend to hold boiling water really well, so it is important to drain the hot water and transfer the pepper cautiously into a cold ice bath.

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.macheesmo.com/2012/04/holy-mole/

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