Chilaquiles en Mole Negro Oaxaqueño

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting and charring
• •High-powered blender (a Vitamix or equivalent handles the thick paste best)
• •Medium-mesh strainer and wooden spoon for pressing the mole
• •Heavy clay cazuela or 5-quart Dutch oven for the mole
• •Wide heavy skillet for frying tortillas and eggs
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan for draining chips

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal or cast iron skillet over medium. Toast the chilhuacle negro, pasilla oaxaqueño, and mulato chiles one or two at a time, pressing them flat with a spatula, about 20 to 30 seconds per side. The skin will puff, darken slightly, and release a deep smoky scent that fills the room. Do not blacken them. A burned chile turns a mole bitter and there is no way back. Transfer each batch to a large bowl as you go.

   The chilhuacle negro is the backbone of this mole and it is grown almost exclusively in Oaxaca's Cañada region. If your chile vendor does not know what a chilhuacle is, you are at the wrong vendor. Online sources from Oaxaca ship dried chilhuacles to the US. Accept no substitute for this one.
2. 2

   Soak the chiles

   Cover the toasted chiles with hot water, not boiling. Boiling water cooks the skin and turns the puree bitter. Hot tap water softens the flesh and lets the flavor come through clean. Weight them down with a plate so they stay submerged. Soak for 25 to 30 minutes while you prepare the rest.

3. 3

   Burn the seeds and tortilla

   This is the step that makes mole negro black. Take all the reserved chile seeds and spread them on the dry comal over medium-high heat. Toast them, stirring constantly, until they are uniformly charred, nearly black, smoking, and acrid smelling. This takes 5 to 7 minutes. They will smoke heavily. Open a window. Transfer to a small bowl and cover with a splash of water to stop the cooking. On the same comal, lay one corn tortilla flat and let it burn. Not toast. Burn. You want it blackened on both sides, brittle, carbon-dark. Break it into pieces. This burned tortilla and these blackened seeds are the source of mole negro's distinctive color and its bitter undertone that balances the chocolate and the fruit.

   Every cook I havemet in Oaxaca who makes mole negro has a different threshold for how black the seeds should go. Doña Esperanza told me: 'Hasta que te dé miedo.' Until it scares you. She was not entirely joking. The bitterness is the point. Without it, you have mole coloradito, not mole negro.
4. 4

   Toast the nuts, seeds, and spices

   On the same dry comal over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds, stirring, until they turn gold, about 2 minutes. Remove. Toast the peanuts and almonds until they are spotted brown and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Remove. Toast the canela stick, cloves, peppercorns, and cumin seeds together for 1 minute, just until fragrant. Remove. Fry the second tortilla and the torn bread pieces in a tablespoon of manteca de cerdo until golden on both sides. These give the mole body. Set everything aside in separate bowls.

5. 5

   Char the aromatics

   Place the unpeeled garlic cloves, quartered onion, and whole tomatoes directly on the dry comal. Let them char unevenly, turning occasionally. The garlic takes about 8 minutes, the onion about 10, the tomatoes about 12. You want black blisters on all surfaces but softness underneath. Peel the garlic when cool enough to handle. The charring adds another layer of smoke to the mole. Oaxacan moles build flavor in layers, and every layer is heat applied to an ingredient at the right moment.

   If you have a gas burner, you can char the tomatoes directly over the flame with tongs. The comal works fine but the open flame gives a more aggressive char that some Oaxacan cooks prefer.
6. 6

   Fry the plantain

   In the same skillet with another tablespoon of manteca, fry the plantain slices over medium heat until deep golden on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. The plantain must be ripe, soft, with black spots on the skin. An unripe plantain will not give you the sweetness that balances the burned seeds and the chocolate. Set aside.

7. 7

   Blend the mole in batches

   Drain the soaked chiles, reserving the soaking liquid. Working in three or four batches, blend the drained chiles, burned seeds, burned tortilla pieces, charred tomatoes, charred onion, peeled garlic, fried plantain, fried bread and tortilla, toasted nuts, toasted sesame seeds, toasted spices, avocado leaves, oregano, thyme, and chocolate de metate. Add about 1/2 cup of the chile soaking liquid or warm broth to each batch to help the blender move. Blend each batch until very smooth. Pour through a medium-mesh strainer into a large bowl, pressing hard on the solids with the back of a wooden spoon. You want a thick, dark, almost black paste. If your blender struggles, add liquid a tablespoon at a time. No more than necessary. The paste should be dense.

   Straining is not optional. The skins of the chilhuacle and the pasilla oaxaqueño are thick and fibrous. Unblended bits of chile skin ruin the texture. Press hard on the strainer. Extract every drop of flavor and leave only the rough fiber behind.
8. 8

   Fry and simmer the mole

   Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of manteca de cerdo in a heavy clay cazuela or Dutch oven over medium heat. When the lard shimmers, pour in the strained mole paste. It will sputter and pop. Stand back. Fry the paste, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 8 to 10 minutes. The color will deepen from dark brown to near-black and the fat will begin to separate at the edges. This step is what transforms a raw puree into a mole. La manteca es el sabor. Now add the warm broth, one cup at a time, stirring after each addition. The mole should reach the consistency of a thick cream soup, coating the back of the spoon but still flowing. You may not need all 5 cups. Season with salt. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every few minutes so the bottom does not scorch. The mole is done when the surface is glossy, the fat pools lightly at the edges, and a spoonful tastes deep, smoky, bitter-sweet, and layered. Asi se hace y punto.

9. 9

   Fry the tortilla chips

   The next morning, or when you are ready to assemble, heat the asiento in a wide, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Asiento is the dark sediment from the bottom of the lard-rendering pot. It is brown, thick, intensely porky, and it gives the tortilla chips a savory depth that clarified lard cannot. If you cannot find asiento, use manteca de cerdo and understand the compromise. Fry the tortilla pieces in batches without crowding, turning once, until golden and rigid, about 2 minutes per side. They should snap when you bend them. Drain on a wire rack, not paper towels. Paper towels steam the chips and steal the crunch.

   Day-old tortillas fry better than fresh ones. The drier the tortilla, the crisper the chip. If your tortillas are soft, spread them on a rack for an hour before cutting and frying.
10. 10

    Fry the eggs

    In a separate small skillet, heat a generous tablespoon of asiento or manteca over medium-high heat. Crack each egg into the hot fat and fry until the whites are set and blistered at the edges but the yolk is still soft and liquid at the center. In Oaxaca they fry the eggs hard and fast, so the edges go lacy and crisp while the yolk stays runny. That contrast matters when the yolk breaks into the mole on the plate. Season each egg with a pinch of salt. Set aside on a warm plate.

11. 11

    Assemble the chilaquiles

    Reheat 3 to 4 cups of the mole negro in a wide cazuela or deep skillet over medium-low heat. If it has thickened overnight, thin it with a splash of warm broth until it flows easily. When the mole is hot and glossy, add the fried tortilla chips all at once. Fold them gently into the mole with a wide spoon, turning the chips to coat every surface. Let them sit in the mole for 60 to 90 seconds, no more. You want the edges to soften and absorb the sauce while the center of each chip retains some structure. Chilaquiles are not nachos. They are not supposed to be crunchy throughout. But they are not supposed to be mush either. The texture you want is somewhere between, yielding at the edges, still holding its shape in the middle.

12. 12

    Plate and serve

    Spoon the mole-drenched chilaquiles onto warmed plates or into shallow clay bowls. Place a fried egg on top of each serving, yolk side up. Scatter the pulled quesillo threads over and around the egg so they begin to soften in the residual heat. Drizzle a thin line of crema oaxaqueña across the plate. Finish with toasted sesame seeds and a few half-moons of raw white onion. Serve the moment it is plated. Chilaquiles wait for nobody. The tortillas are absorbing the mole as you carry the plate to the table, and that is by design. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •The chilhuacle negro is non-negotiable. It is the chile that makes mole negro mole negro: the color, the depth, the round almost-fruity bitterness. It is grown in the Cañada region of Oaxaca and nowhere else. If you live outside Mexico, order from a Oaxacan supplier online. Do not substitute New Mexico chiles or anchos and call it mole negro. You will have made a different sauce. A good sauce, maybe. But not this one.
• •Asiento is sold in the mercados of Oaxaca by the spoonful, scooped from the bottom of the manteca barrel. It is dark brown, thick, and carries the concentrated flavor of rendered pork fat. If you render your own lard at home, the dark residue at the bottom of the pot is your asiento. If you cannot find it, use manteca de cerdo. The chilaquiles will be good. They will not be the same.
• •This recipe makes more mole negro than you need for one breakfast. That is intentional. Mole negro keeps refrigerated for a week and frozen for three months. Use it for enchiladas, pour it over tamales, or make chilaquiles again next Sunday. The mole only deepens with time. A two-day-old mole negro is better than a same-day one.
• •Do not add the tortilla chips to the mole until you are ready to serve. The moment they go in, the clock is running. Sixty to ninety seconds in the hot mole and then onto the plate. Any longer and you lose the textural contrast that separates chilaquiles from sopa azteca.

Advance Preparation

• •The mole negro should be made one to three days before you plan to serve chilaquiles. The flavor deepens significantly overnight as the chiles, chocolate, and spices marry. Refrigerate in a sealed container. Reheat gently, thinning with broth as needed.
• •Tortillas can be cut into quarters and left uncovered on a rack overnight to dry out. Drier tortillas fry crisper and absorb the mole more evenly.
• •The mole negro freezes well for up to three months. Freeze in 2-cup portions so you can pull out exactly what you need for a batch of chilaquiles, enchiladas, or tamales.
• •Do not fry the tortilla chips or the eggs in advance. Both must be done immediately before assembly. The chips need to be hot and crisp when they meet the mole. The eggs need a runny yolk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)