Xico Dark Mole with Turkey (Mole de Xico)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large stockpot for turkey broth
• •Cast iron comal or heavy dry skillet
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh or medium-mesh strainer
• •Wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven
• •Wooden spoon for frying the mole paste

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the turkey

   Put the turkey breast and legs in a large pot with the quartered onion, halved garlic head, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and enough cold water to cover by two inches. Bring to a gentle simmer, skim the gray foam, then cook partly covered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the legs are tender and the breast registers 160F. Lift the turkey out and cover it. Strain and reserve the broth. That broth is the backbone of the mole.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the ancho, mulato, pasilla, and chipotle meco separately, a few seconds per side, until they darken slightly, puff, and smell deep, not burned. The pasilla is thin. Watch it like a serious cook. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water for 25 minutes.

   Boiling water pulls bitterness from the skins. Hot water softens the flesh. That difference matters in a dark mole.
3. 3

   Toast seeds and nuts

   Toast the sesame seeds on the comal until golden and fragrant, shaking constantly. Set aside. Toast the almonds and peanuts until their edges smell nutty and warm. Do not walk away. Burned sesame turns the whole cazuela bitter, and no amount of chocolate will save it.

4. 4

   Fry the sweet elements

   Melt 3 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a wide skillet. Fry the plantain coins until browned on both sides, then remove them. Fry the raisins just until they puff, a few seconds. Fry the tortilla pieces and bolillo slices until golden. La manteca es el sabor. Oil will cook them, but lard gives the mole its Veracruz body.

5. 5

   Char the vegetables

   On the same comal, roast the jitomates de bola, sliced onion, and unpeeled garlic until the tomato skins blister, the onion has dark edges, and the garlic softens inside its skin. Peel the garlic. This is not decoration. Those browned edges are flavor you need later.

6. 6

   Grind the spices

   Toast the cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, anise seed, and Mexican oregano for less than one minute, just until fragrant. Grind them in a spice mill or molcajete. Xico's mole is sweet, dark, and perfumed, not a chocolate sauce. The spices carry that line.

7. 7

   Blend the mole paste

   Drain the soaked chiles. Blend them in batches with the roasted jitomates, onion, garlic, toasted sesame, almonds, peanuts, fried plantain, raisins, tortilla, bolillo, ground spices, and enough turkey broth to keep the blades moving. Blend longer than feels necessary. You want a smooth paste, not gritty chile soup. Strain through a medium or fine sieve if your blender leaves skins behind.

8. 8

   Fry the paste

   Melt the remaining manteca in a heavy clay cazuela or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the mole paste carefully. It will sputter, because it is alive with chile and broth. Stir with a wooden spoon for 20 to 25 minutes, scraping the bottom, until the paste darkens, thickens, and the fat begins to shine at the edges. No me vengas con atajos. This frying is where mole becomes mole.

9. 9

   Simmer and season

   Add 5 to 6 cups reserved turkey broth, one cup at a time, stirring until the sauce loosens to the texture of heavy cream. Add the chocolate, piloncillo, and hoja santa if using. Simmer gently for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce is dark, glossy, and thick enough to coat the spoon. Taste for salt. The sweetness should sit behind the chiles, not cover them.

10. 10

    Finish with turkey

    Cut the turkey into serving pieces and lower them into the mole. Simmer 15 minutes more so the meat takes the sauce. If the mole gets too thick, add a little broth. If it tastes flat, it needs salt, not more sugar. Serve from the cazuela with toasted sesame scattered on top, warm corn tortillas, black beans, and small dishes of olives and capers at the table.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chiles that bend a little when pressed. If the ancho or mulato cracks like dry paper, it is old and tired. You can have perfect technique and bad chiles and you will get a bad mole.
• •Chipotle meco matters here. It gives smoke and depth, not just heat. Canned chipotle in adobo is a compromise for another day, not for this feast mole.
• •If you cannot find turkey pieces, use a whole cut-up chicken, but understand the loss. Turkey gives a stronger broth and a celebration weight that chicken does not carry.
• •The hoja santa is Veracruz talking. Use one small leaf, not five. It should perfume the mole quietly. Too much acuyo will bully the chiles.
• •Mole de Xico should be dark, glossy, lightly sweet, and complex. It should not burn your mouth. Not all Mexican food is built around heat. This is a 32-state cuisine.

Advance Preparation

• •The turkey broth can be made one day ahead. Refrigerate the broth and meat separately, then skim the firm fat from the broth before using if you want a cleaner sauce.
• •The finished mole tastes better after one night in the refrigerator. Reheat slowly with a splash of turkey broth, stirring so the bottom does not catch.
• •The chile paste can be made and fried one day ahead. Add broth, chocolate, piloncillo, and turkey on the day you serve it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)