Mole Negro

★★★★4.9· 543 ratings

·Serves 6

About this Dish

The most complex sauce in world cuisine — Oaxaca's mole negro contains up to 30 ingredients including multiple dried chillies, chocolate, plantain and spices, cooked for days. Each family recipe is a closely guarded secret. The dish is served at weddings and celebrations — making mole negro is an act of love and devotion.

IngredientsServes 6

🍗Chicken thighs and drumsticks, 1.5kg bone-in

🌶️Dried mulato chillies, 4 large, stems and seeds removed

🌶️Dried ancho chillies, 3 large, stems and seeds removed

🌶️Dried pasilla negro chillies, 3, stems and seeds removed

🍫Mexican dark chocolate (70% cacao), 60g roughly chopped

🍌Ripe plantain, 1 small, peeled and sliced into rounds

🧅White onion, 1 large, quartered

🧄Garlic cloves, 6, unpeeled

🌿Ground cumin, cinnamon, cloves and dried thyme, 1 tsp each

🫘Corn tortilla, 1 stale, torn into pieces

Method

Toast the dried chillies one at a time in a dry hot skillet for about 20 seconds per side until fragrant and slightly blistered — watch them carefully so they don't burn, as bitterness will ruin your mole. Soak the toasted chillies in hot water for 30 minutes until soft, then drain and reserve the soaking liquid.

In the same dry skillet, char the quartered onion and unpeeled garlic cloves until deeply blackened on the outside — this takes about 10 minutes and adds essential smoky depth. Peel the garlic and set aside with the onion.

Fry the plantain slices and torn tortilla pieces in a little lard or vegetable oil over medium heat until golden and slightly crispy, then add all the spices and stir for one minute until fragrant. Transfer everything to a blender with the soaked chillies, charred onion, garlic and about 250ml of the reserved chilli soaking liquid, and blend until very smooth.

In a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of lard or oil over medium-high heat and carefully pour in the blended sauce — it will splutter dramatically, so stand back. Fry the mole paste, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes until it darkens and thickens and the fat begins to separate around the edges.

Add 750ml of good chicken stock, the chopped chocolate, and salt to taste, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently for at least 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to prevent sticking — the sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and nestle them into the simmering mole, ensuring they are well coated. Cover and cook on a low heat for 45–55 minutes until the chicken is tender and has absorbed the deep, complex flavours of the sauce.

Taste the mole and adjust with salt or a tiny pinch of sugar if needed — the flavour should be smoky, rich, slightly bitter from the chocolate and warmly spiced. Serve over rice, scattered with toasted sesame seeds and warm corn tortillas on the side.

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