Enmoladas Oaxaqueñas con Mole Negro

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting and charring
• •High-powered blender (Vitamix or equivalent)
• •Heavy 4-quart pot or clay cazuela for the mole
• •Medium saucepan for poaching chicken
• •Wide skillet for passing tortillas and frying eggs
• •Wooden spoon dedicated to mole (it will stain permanently)
• •Tongs for charring tortillas

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Toast the chilhuacle negro, mulato, and pasilla oaxaqueño chiles one variety at a time, pressing them flat against the hot surface with a spatula for about 20 to 30 seconds per side. The skin will blister and puff. The kitchen will fill with a dark, earthy fragrance that smells like the chile vendors' corridor at the Central de Abastos in Oaxaca. Do not blacken them. A burned chile turns the mole bitter and there is no fixing it. As each chile is toasted, transfer it to a heatproof bowl.

   The chilhuacle negro is thicker and tougher than the other two. Give it a few extra seconds. The pasilla oaxaqueño is thinner and will burn faster. Watch it.
2. 2

   Char the seeds and tortilla

   This step is what makes mole negro negro. On the same comal, spread the reserved chile seeds in a single layer. Toast them over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 5 to 7 minutes until they are completely black and smoking. They will smell acrid. That is correct. Set them aside. Now take two corn tortillas and char them directly on the comal or over a gas flame, turning with tongs, until they are entirely black and brittle, not just spotted, but burned through. Break them into pieces. These charred seeds and tortillas are the soul of mole negro. They give the sauce its near-black color and a bitter depth that no other mole has.

   Open a window. The charring process produces serious smoke. The señora in Etla did this outside on a clay comal over a wood fire. If you have an outdoor burner, use it.
3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Cover the toasted chiles with hot water, not boiling. Hot tap water is fine. Let them soak for 20 to 25 minutes until they are soft and pliable. Boiling water cooks the skin and makes the mole taste muddy. The soaking liquid will turn dark. Discard it when you drain the chiles. It carries bitterness you do not want in the sauce.

4. 4

   Roast the vegetables

   While the chiles soak, roast the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion half, and unpeeled garlic cloves on the dry comal. Turn them as they blister, letting each side char until softened and dark-spotted on all sides, about 12 to 15 minutes total. The tomatoes and tomatillos will collapse and release juice. The garlic skins will blacken. The onion will go translucent at the edges and char on the flat sides. Peel the garlic when cool enough to handle. Toast the avocado leaves on the comal for just 5 seconds per side until fragrant. Do not burn them. They taste like anise when toasted properly.

5. 5

   Toast the aromatics

   In a small skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the asiento or manteca over medium heat. Fry the plantain slices until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove. In the same fat, toast the peanuts until spotted and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove. Toast the sesame seeds until golden, about 1 minute, shaking the pan constantly. Remove. Fry the raisins until they puff, about 30 seconds. Remove. Tear the bread into pieces and fry until golden on both sides. Remove. In the dry skillet, briefly toast the cloves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, and cumin seeds until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Each ingredient goes in separately because each one burns at a different speed. No me vengas con atajos.

6. 6

   Blend the mole

   Work in batches. Combine the drained chiles, charred seeds, charred tortilla pieces, roasted vegetables, toasted plantain, peanuts, sesame seeds, raisins, bread, all the spices, the avocado leaves, the oregano, and the chocolate de metate broken into pieces in a blender. Add about 1 cup of chicken broth to start. Blend on high until completely smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. You may need 2 or 3 batches depending on your blender. Add more broth as needed to keep things moving, but use as little as possible. You want a thick, smooth paste, not a soup. The color should be very dark, nearly black, with a reddish undertone when you hold it to the light.

   If you have a molcajete and the patience of a saint, you can grind the paste by hand the way it was done before blenders existed. The texture is finer and the flavor rounder. But a high-powered blender does the job honestly, and the señoras at the mercados in Oaxaca use blenders without apology. I will too.
7. 7

   Fry and simmer the mole

   Heat 3 tablespoons of asiento or manteca in a heavy pot or clay cazuela over medium heat. When the fat shimmers, pour in the blended mole paste. It will sputter and pop. Stand back but keep stirring. Fry the paste for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until it darkens further, the fat begins to separate at the edges, and the raw smell of the chiles cooks out. You will know because the aroma shifts from sharp to deep. Add 2 cups of chicken broth, the grated piloncillo, and salt to taste. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low, partially cover, and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes so the bottom does not scorch. The mole will thicken as it cooks. If it gets too thick, add more broth a quarter cup at a time. The finished mole should coat the back of a wooden spoon and slide off slowly. La manteca es el sabor.

   Asiento, the dark sediment from rendered lard, is what Oaxacan cooks use. It has a deeper, almost smoky flavor that regular manteca cannot replicate. If you can find it at a Mexican market, use it. If not, good quality manteca de cerdo is the right substitute. Vegetable oil is not.
8. 8

   Poach the chicken

   While the mole simmers, place the chicken pieces in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water by one inch. Add the onion half, garlic cloves, avocado leaf, and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim the foam that rises in the first few minutes. Cook at a lazy simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Remove the chicken and let it cool enough to handle. Shred the meat into generous pieces, discarding the skin and bones. Save the poaching broth. You can use it to thin the mole if needed.

9. 9

   Pass the tortillas

   Heat 2 tablespoons of asiento or manteca in a wide skillet over medium heat. One at a time, pass each corn tortilla through the hot fat for about 5 seconds per side, just long enough to soften and absorb a little of that flavor. The tortilla should be pliable, not crisp. Stack them on a plate and cover with a clean towel to keep them warm. This step is not optional. A dry tortilla will crack when you fold it and it will not absorb the mole properly. The asiento underneath the mole is a layer of flavor you can taste in every bite. That is how the señoras in the Valles Centrales do it.

   If your tortillas are from a good tortillería and still warm, you need less time in the fat. If they are a few hours old or from a package, give them a full 10 seconds per side. Stale tortillas need the fat more, not less.
10. 10

    Assemble the enmoladas

    Warm the mole if it has cooled, thinning it with a splash of broth if needed. It should be the consistency of a thick cream sauce, loose enough to coat but not so thin that it runs off the tortilla. Take each softened tortilla, dip it briefly in the warm mole negro to coat both sides, lay it flat, place a generous line of shredded chicken down the center, and fold the tortilla in half. Arrange 3 folded enmoladas on each plate, slightly overlapping. Ladle two or three spoonfuls of mole negro over the top, making sure the sauce pools generously around the base and blankets the tortillas. The plate should look dark, rich, and abundant. This is not a garnish of mole. The mole is the dish.

11. 11

    Fry the eggs and plate

    Heat 1 tablespoon of asiento or manteca in a nonstick skillet or well-seasoned comal over medium heat. Crack the eggs into the fat and fry until the whites are set and the edges are lacy but the yolks are still liquid, about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not flip them. Place one fried egg on top of each plate of enmoladas, right on the mole. Drizzle crema mexicana across the plate in thin lines. Scatter crumbled queso fresco, thin rings of white onion, and a generous pinch of toasted sesame seeds over everything. The yolk will break when the diner cuts into it and run into the mole. That is the point. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •The chilhuacle negro is the one chile that makes mole negro what it is. It is grown in the Cañada region of Oaxaca and is not widely available outside Mexico. Look for it at Oaxacan specialty markets, online vendors who import directly, or the chile stalls at La Merced in Mexico City. If you cannot find it, do not try to make mole negro with ancho or guajillo. You will make a different mole. A fine mole, maybe. But not mole negro. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Mole negro improves dramatically after a day in the refrigerator. The flavors marry and the sauce deepens. The best enmoladas are made from yesterday's mole. Make the mole on Saturday, assemble the enmoladas on Sunday morning. That is the Oaxacan rhythm.
• •Asiento is the dark, concentrated sediment from rendered pork fat, used across Oaxaca the way other states use manteca. It has a toasty, almost smoky depth that regular lard does not. If a Mexican market near you sells chicharrón prensado, the vendor likely has asiento. Ask for it. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
• •Do not use commercial 'Mexican chocolate' brands like Abuelita or Ibarra for the mole. Chocolate de metate is stone-ground cacao with minimal sugar and a coarse, gritty texture that dissolves differently into the sauce. The commercial tablets are sweeter and smoother and they will throw the balance off.
• •This recipe makes more mole than you need for one breakfast. Good. Store the extra in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze it for three months. You will use it on eggs, on rice, on enchiladas, on whatever needs to be made better. In Oaxaca, a pot of mole negro is currency.

Advance Preparation

• •The mole negro should be made at least one day ahead. It improves overnight as the chiles, chocolate, and spices settle into each other. Refrigerate in a sealed glass jar. Reheat gently with a splash of broth before assembling the enmoladas.
• •The chicken can be poached and shredded one day ahead and refrigerated separately. Save the poaching broth to thin the mole on assembly day.
• •Leftover mole negro keeps in the refrigerator for one week and freezes well for up to three months. Freeze in portions so you can pull out exactly what you need for the next round of enmoladas.
• •On the morning of serving, the only work is passing the tortillas through asiento, assembling the enmoladas, frying the eggs, and plating. The whole assembly takes 20 minutes if the mole and chicken are ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 450g)