Chochoyotes en Mole Amarillo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles and charring aromatics
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wide 6-quart cazuela or Dutch oven
• •Spice grinder or molcajete for grinding spices
• •Wooden spoon long enough to reach the bottom of the pot

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the masa for the chochoyotes

   In a wide bowl, combine the masa harina with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Add the softened lard and work it in with your fingers until the masa looks like wet sand. Pour in the warm water a little at a time, kneading until the masa is smooth, soft, and slightly tacky but not sticky. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 20 minutes. The masa needs to hydrate fully or the chochoyotes will crack in the broth.

   Test the masa by pressing a small ball between your fingers. If it cracks at the edges, add water by the teaspoon. If it sticks to your palm, add another tablespoon of masa harina. La masa te dice lo que necesita.
2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Toast the chilhuacle amarillo, guajillo, and costeno separately, pressing them flat for about 20 seconds per side. They should turn fragrant and pliable, never blacken. The chilhuacle amarillo is delicate and burns fast. Watch it. Burned chile turns the mole bitter and there is no hiding it later.

   Chilhuacle amarillo is grown almost exclusively in Oaxaca's Canada region and it is the chile that makes mole amarillo amarillo. If you cannot find it, use more guajillo and a single chile costeno amarillo. It is a compromise, not an upgrade.
3. 3

   Soak the chiles, char the aromatics

   Place the toasted chiles in a heatproof bowl and cover with hot tap water. Hot, not boiling. Let them soften for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, on the same comal, char the tomatillos, the half onion, and the unpeeled garlic. The tomatillos should blister and soften, the onion should turn dark on both cut sides, and the garlic skins should blacken in patches. Pull the garlic when it is soft, peel, and set aside with the rest.

4. 4

   Toast the spices

   In the same dry skillet, toast the peppercorns, cloves, cumin seed, and the piece of canela for about a minute, until fragrant. Move them to a spice grinder or molcajete and grind to a fine powder. Spices toasted whole and ground fresh have a depth that pre-ground spices simply do not. Asi se hace y punto.

5. 5

   Blend the mole base

   Drain the chiles, reserving the soaking liquid. Transfer the chiles, charred tomatillos, onion, peeled garlic, ground spices, and 1 1/2 cups of the broth to a blender. Blend on high for two full minutes until completely smooth. The color should be a deep brick-orange, almost amber. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids. Discard the skins. You want a clean, glossy puree.

6. 6

   Fry the mole

   In a wide cazuela or heavy pot, melt 2 tablespoons of lard over medium heat. Add the strained chile puree. It will sputter aggressively. Stand back. Cook for eight to ten minutes, stirring almost constantly with a wooden spoon, until the puree darkens, thickens, and the fat starts to bead at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. This step transforms a thin chile water into mole.

7. 7

   Build the broth

   Pour in the remaining broth and any chile soaking liquid you reserved (taste it first; if it is bitter, use more broth instead). Add the hierba santa and epazote, tied together with kitchen twine if you want to fish them out later. Bring to a low simmer. Add the potato and let it cook for 10 minutes, then add the chayote and green beans. Simmer 10 minutes more, until the vegetables are nearly tender. Season with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Taste. The broth should taste assertive. The chochoyotes will absorb flavor as they cook.

8. 8

   Form the chochoyotes

   Uncover the rested masa. Roll it into balls the size of a large marble, about an inch across. Press your thumb into the center of each ball to make a deep indentation, the ombligo, the belly button. That dimple is not decoration. It catches the broth, it cooks the masa from the inside, and it is the visual signature of a chochoyote. A round ball without the thumbprint is just a dumpling. A chochoyote has the ombligo. You should have 24 to 30 dumplings.

   Keep your hands lightly oiled with a touch of lard or rub them with a damp cloth as you work. The masa will not stick and the chochoyotes will be smooth.
9. 9

   Cook the chochoyotes in the mole

   Drop the chochoyotes one at a time into the simmering mole, ombligo facing up where you can. Do not stir aggressively or they will break apart. Give the pot a gentle swirl. Cover partially and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes. The chochoyotes are done when they have firmed up, swelled slightly, and float at the top. The masa cooks the broth as much as the broth cooks the masa. The mole will thicken on its own from the corn that releases.

10. 10

    Adjust the body and serve

    If the mole still feels thin, stir in the masa-water slurry and let it cook for two more minutes until the broth coats the back of a spoon. Taste once more for salt. Ladle into shallow bowls, making sure each portion gets four or five chochoyotes, a piece of each vegetable, and plenty of broth. Tear a fresh leaf of hierba santa over the top. Serve with warm tortillas and lime. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •If you can find Masienda's nixtamalized masa harina, use it. The flavor difference between true nixtamal masa and supermarket Maseca is real. If you only have Maseca, choose the version labeled for tamales, not for tortillas. The texture is closer to what you need.
• •Chilhuacle amarillo is the heart of this mole and it is not easy to find outside Oaxaca. Mexican specialty importers carry it. If you cannot find any, replace it with additional chile guajillo plus chile costeno amarillo and accept that you are making something close, not something exact. No me vengas con atajos sobre el chilhuacle. There is no real substitute.
• •Hierba santa, also called hoja santa, is non-negotiable here. Its anise-eucalyptus flavor is what makes mole amarillo taste like mole amarillo and not just yellow chile broth. Latino markets carry it fresh. Dried is a pale shadow but better than nothing.
• •This is a vegetarian dish in this version, but Oaxacan cooks also make it with pork or chicken cooked in the broth before the chochoyotes go in. If you go that route, simmer bone-in pieces in the broth for 45 minutes before you start the mole, and use the resulting stock as your liquid.

Advance Preparation

• •The mole base, through step 6, can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated. The flavor only deepens. Reheat gently before adding the broth, herbs, and vegetables.
• •The masa for the chochoyotes can be mixed up to four hours ahead and held covered with a damp cloth at room temperature. Do not refrigerate it; the masa stiffens and cracks.
• •Form the chochoyotes only when you are ready to cook them. They dry out fast on the counter and a dry chochoyote breaks apart in the broth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 510g)