Chef Lupita
Mojarra de Tachogobi de Catemaco
Catemaco's mojarra from Veracruz's Los Tuxtlas, wrapped with hoja santa and banana leaf, roasted whole, then dressed with green piquín, garlic, and lime sauce that bites clean and stays.
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Main Dishes
Main dishes anchor the meal. This category gathers poultry, seafood, meat, pasta, grains, and plant-forward recipes with clear methods and satisfying structure.
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Recipes
Chef Lupita
Mojarra Frita Costeña con Plátano y Arroz
The everyday plate of the Costa Chica, the Afro-Mexican coast of Guerrero and Oaxaca: a whole lagoon mojarra fried until the skin cracks, fanned with caramelized plátano macho, white rice, and salsa de chile costeño.
Chef Lupita
Lerma River Pan-Fried Tilapia (Mojarras del Lerma al Ajo)
Guanajuato's Lerma corridor fish, scored to the bone, rubbed with garlic, serrano, and limón, then pan-fried whole until the fins turn crisp and the table smells like a Bajío river picnic.
Chef Jeong-sun
Moksal-gui (Grilled Pork Collar)
Pork neck collar cut thick, salted with restraint, grilled until the edges brown and the center stays juicy, then wrapped in lettuce with ssamjang, garlic, and a little patience.
Chef Lupita
Mole Amarillo Oaxaqueño con Pollo
Oaxaca's lighter, brothy weeknight mole, built on chilhuacle amarillo, charred tomatillos, and hoja santa, thickened with masa to a clean finish over poached chicken and chayote.
Chef Lupita
Mole Chichilo Oaxaqueno con Res y Hoja de Aguacate
Oaxaca's funeral mole, the rarest of the seven, built on chilhuacle negro, deliberately burnt tortillas and seeds, and toasted avocado leaves. A bitter, smoky sauce that carries beef the way only Oaxaca knows how.
Chef Lupita
Mole Coloradito Oaxaqueño con Pollo
Oaxaca's red mole over poached chicken, built on toasted ancho and guajillo, sesame, almonds, ripe plantain, and a square of chocolate de mesa. The everyday cousin of mole negro and the one most Oaxacan families actually cook on a Sunday.
Chef Lupita
Mole de Pollo de Bautizo P'urhépecha
Michoacán's Meseta P'urhépecha baptism mole, chicken braised in guajillo, ancho, cacao, sesame, and lard, made for a crowded patio where cocineras measure ceremony by the cazuela.
Chef Lupita
Mole de Queso de Sepelio
Michoacán's Meseta P'urhépecha funeral mole, thickened with maize from the milpa and served with queso de rancho when the mourning kitchen does not cook meat.
Chef Lupita
Xico Dark Mole with Turkey (Mole de Xico)
Central Veracruz's celebration mole from Xico, dark with mulato, ancho, pasilla, chipotle, fried plantain, sesame, almonds, raisins, and chocolate, served over turkey for feast days.
Chef Lupita
Mole Manchamanteles con Cerdo y Frutas
Oaxaca's tablecloth-stainer mole, built on toasted ancho and guajillo, fried plantain, pineapple, and pears, simmered with pork until the fruit gives up its juice and the chile takes over.
Chef Lupita
Mole Negro Oaxaqueño con Guajolote
Oaxaca's king mole, built over two days from chilhuacle negro, mulato, and burnt seeds, finished with chocolate and avocado leaf, ladled generously over slow-poached guajolote for the table.
Chef Lupita
Mole Poblano de Guajolote
Puebla's banquet mole over slow-poached turkey, built from ancho, mulato, and pasilla, toasted seeds, charred fruit, and Mexican chocolate. Thirty-plus ingredients ground into one mahogany sauce that takes two days and feeds a celebration.
Chef Lupita
Mole Prieto Tlaxcalteca
Tlaxcala's ritual black mole, built on burned tortillas, four dried chiles, and fresh corn masa, slow-cooked with turkey and pork for the village fiestas of Carnaval and the great family celebrations of the central highlands.
Chef Lupita
Mole Rojo con Borrego Ceremonial de Zacán
Michoacán's Meseta P'urhépecha mole rojo, lamb braised until tender in toasted ancho, guajillo, pasilla, sesame, and manteca, the fiesta pot Zacán's cocineras serve with rice and guacamole.
Chef Lupita
Mole Rojo Oaxaqueño con Res
Oaxaca's bright red mole, built on toasted guajillo, ancho, costeño, and pasilla oaxaqueño with charred tomato and a whisper of Mexican chocolate, ladled over slow-simmered beef the way they make it in the Valles Centrales.
Chef Lupita
Mole Tatemado con Becerro de Boda
Michoacán's Meseta P'urhépecha wedding mole, built in Zacán with becerro, tatemado chile ancho and guajillo, toasted seeds, and manteca until the sauce turns dark, glossy, and serious.
Chef Lupita
Guerrero Green Mole (Mole Verde Guerrerense)
Guerrero's green mole is a pumpkin-seed pepian from the central valleys, bright with tomatillo and hoja santa, thickened with masa, and poured over chicken without pretending every mole needs chocolate.
Chef Lupita
Mole Verde Oaxaqueño con Espinazo de Puerco
Oaxaca's herbal green mole, built on toasted pepitas, hoja santa, and epazote, simmered with pork spine until the bones release their weight into the bright, vegetal broth.
Chef Lupita
Mone de Pejelagarto Tabasqueño
Tabasco's Chontal lowland mone wraps firm pejelagarto with hoja de momo, achiote, chile dulce, and banana leaf, then cooks it slowly until the fish tastes of river, leaf, and smoke memory.
Chef Lupita
Mone de Robalo Tabasqueño
Tabasco's Sierra fish parcel, robalo wrapped in hoja de momo and banana leaf with manteca, chile amashito, tomato, and black pepper, then steamed until the leaf perfumes every bite.
Chef Takumi
Monjayaki (もんじゃ焼き)
Monjayaki looks like it has gone wrong until it goes right: loose batter, dry-cooked cabbage, a ring on the griddle, then crisp little bites scraped as they form.
Chef Fai
Garlic Pepper Pork Stir-Fry (Moo Pad Gra Tiem Prik Thai)
Three ingredients in the mortar, thirty seconds in the wok. This is the kreung tam stripped to its bones: garlic, white pepper, cilantro root. The first paste every Thai cook learns, and the one that teaches you everything.
Chef Juliana
Moqueca Baiana de Peixe
You don't need a Salvador kitchen to make this. You need real dendê, full-fat coconut milk, a heavy pot, and the discipline to let the fish cook gently.
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