Mole de Plátano Jarocho

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and charring vegetables
• •12-inch clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven
• •High-powered blender
• •Wooden spoon
• •Fine-mesh strainer, optional for a silkier table sauce

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho, chile pasilla mexicano, and chile costeño separately, about 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until the skins puff and the smell turns deep and raisiny. The costeño is small and fast, watch it. Burn one chile and the whole mole goes bitter. No me vengas con atajos.

   Chile costeño is not guajillo. It brings a sharper coastal fruitiness and a little heat. If you cannot find it, use two chile de arbol and accept that the sauce has moved away from Veracruz.
2. 2

   Soften the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Not boiling. Let them sit for 20 minutes until the flesh softens. Drain them and save 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid only if it tastes clean. If it tastes bitter, throw it out. The cook decides, not the recipe card.

3. 3

   Char the vegetables

   On the same comal, roast the onion slices, unpeeled garlic, and tomato halves until the onion has brown edges, the garlic skins blacken in spots, and the tomatoes slump. Peel the garlic. This is the Veracruz kitchen doing its work: fruit, chile, smoke from the comal, and patience.

4. 4

   Fry the plantains

   Peel the plátanos machos and slice them into thick coins. Melt 2 tablespoons of manteca in a wide skillet over medium heat. Fry the plantain until deep gold on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side. They should smell sweet and caramelized, not burned. The plantain is the body of this mole. Not chocolate. Not flour. Fruit.

5. 5

   Toast seeds and spices

   In the same skillet, add the peanuts and toast until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the sesame seeds for the last minute so they turn gold without scorching. Toast the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and Mexican oregano for 20 seconds, just until fragrant. Small ingredients burn quickly. Respect them.

6. 6

   Blend the mole

   Blend the softened chiles, roasted onion, peeled garlic, tomatoes, fried plantain, peanuts, sesame, toasted spices, hoja santa or epazote, piloncillo, salt, vinegar, and 2 cups of warm broth until completely smooth. Work in batches if your blender is small. A Veracruz señora would use the metate if she had the morning. A blender is fine when you blend long enough.

7. 7

   Fry the paste

   Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of manteca in a 12-inch clay cazuela or heavy pot over medium heat. Pour in the blended mole carefully. It will sputter. Stir constantly for 8 to 10 minutes, scraping the bottom, until the color darkens from brick red to mahogany brown and the fat begins to shine at the edges. La manteca es el sabor.

8. 8

   Simmer to finish

   Add the remaining 1 cup warm broth and lower the heat. Simmer 25 to 30 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce falls from the spoon in a thick ribbon and leaves a clean line when you drag the spoon across the bottom of the cazuela. Taste for salt. If it needs brightness, add a few more drops of vinegar. If it tastes flat, it needs salt, not more sugar.

9. 9

   Serve or store

   Spoon the mole over poached chicken, turkey, roasted pork, or fried plantain. Scatter sesame seeds on top if serving now. For storage, cool it completely and refrigerate up to 4 days. It thickens as it rests, so loosen it with warm broth when reheating. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use plátano macho with black spots and firm flesh. Fully black, collapsing plantain is too sweet and loose for this mole. Green plantain gives starch but not the caramelized depth Veracruz cooks want.
• •Chile costeño matters. Ask at a Mexican mercado or a serious dried chile vendor. It is used along the southern coast and brings a sharper fruit note than guajillo. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •If the sauce tastes sweet before it tastes like chile, your plantains were too ripe or you used too much piloncillo. Balance it with salt, a little vinegar, and a longer simmer.
• •Manteca de cerdo gives the sauce its round finish. Vegetable oil will cook the ingredients, yes, but it will not give the same body. La manteca es el sabor.
• •This mole is a sauce, not a thin salsa. It should coat the back of a spoon and sit heavily over chicken or turkey. If it runs across the plate like broth, keep simmering.

Advance Preparation

• •The mole can be made 3 days ahead and refrigerated. The flavor deepens as the plantain, chile, peanut, and sesame settle into each other.
• •Freeze the finished mole in 2-cup portions for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight and reheat slowly with warm chicken or turkey broth.
• •Toast, stem, and seed the chiles one day ahead, but do not soak them until the day you blend. Soaked chiles held too long taste tired.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 195g)