This thick, slow-cooked chocolate sauce reigns supreme in Oaxacan cuisine.
One of the most beloved and famed dishes in Mexico is molé – a thick and creamy sauce made of chocolate and spices that you serve with a protein like chicken or pork. In Oaxaca where molé originated, you’ll find 7 traditional versions: Molé Negro, Rojo, Coloradito, Amarillo, Verde, Chichilo, and Manchamantel. Here, host Carla in Chicago shares her family’s molé recipe.
In my culture, chocolate is a fundamental part of our cuisine. From our beverages to dishes, using chocolate in sauces is very common. For drinks, we usually mix cacao beans, cinnamon, almonds, vanilla and a bit of sugar with water or mile. For cooking, we mix spices and chocolate to make a sauce that is the main ingredient for molé.
Host Carla – Chicago, IL
Ingredients
- 1 Chile mulato
- 1 Chile ancho
- 1 Chile pasilla
- 3 Tomatoes
- 1 Onion
- 3 Cloves of garlic
- 1 Tablet of Mexican chocolate
- 2 Tortillas
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 cups Chicken broth
- 1 Banana
- 3 Cloves
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 1/2 tsp. Anise seeds
- 1/2 tsp. Coriander seeds
- 1/4 cup Sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup Almonds
- 1/2 cup Peanuts
- 1/4 cup Crisco all-vegetable shortening
- 1/4 cup of Raisins
- 4 Ginger cookies
- 2 tsp. Chicken flavor bouillon
Instructions
- Remove the seeds from the chilis.
- In a pan, roast the tomatoes, onions, and garlic.
- Then add the sesame seeds and coriander seeds. Roast until golden.
- Add the almonds, chiles, banana, peanuts, and cookies.
- Put all the previous ingredients in a bowl and add the raisins.
- Burn the tortillas directly on the stove fire until they’re black (but not burned!). Add to the bowl and cover for 5 minutes. This is how you get the smokey flavor.
- After you’ve let the bowl of ingredients sit, start to grind up the ingredients. If you need liquid, you can add the chicken broth.
- In a big pan, add the Crisco, half of the sugar, and the Mexican chocolate. Turn up the heat and mix the ingredients thoroughly.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and the grounded paste and leave on medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If needed, you can add more sugar, salt, and chicken broth to taste,
- You can strain if you want the sauce more creamy and without seeds, and served with warm tortillas filled with sheered cook chicken.
