Guerrero Green Mole (Mole Verde Guerrerense)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 5-quart clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet
• •High-powered blender
• •Molcajete or spice grinder
• •Fine-mesh strainer for the chicken broth

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the chicken

   Put the chicken pieces in a large pot with the cold water, onion, garlic, bay leaves, and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim the foam during the first 15 minutes. Lower the heat and cook until the chicken is tender but not falling apart, 35 to 45 minutes. Pull the chicken out and strain the broth. Keep both warm.

2. 2

   Cook the tomatillos

   Put the tomatillos and serrano chiles in a small pot and cover with water. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes, just until the tomatillos turn olive green and soften. Do not boil them until they collapse into bitterness. Drain them. Guerrero cooks want brightness here, not sour mud.

3. 3

   Roast the poblano

   Roast the chile poblano directly over a gas flame or on a hot comal until the skin blisters all over. Put it in a covered bowl for 10 minutes, then peel, stem, and seed it. The poblano gives depth without making the mole hot. Not all Mexican food is trying to burn your mouth. That idea is lazy.

4. 4

   Toast the seeds

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Toast the pepitas, stirring constantly, until they puff, turn patchy golden, and smell nutty, 3 to 5 minutes. Toast the sesame seeds separately until pale gold, about 1 minute. Seeds burn fast. If they go dark brown, start again. Bitter pepitas will ruin the whole cazuela.

   Raw pepitas taste flat in mole. Toasting wakes up the oil inside the seed and gives the sauce its backbone.
5. 5

   Grind the spices

   Toast the cumin seed, cloves, and peppercorns for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Grind them in a molcajete or spice grinder. Do not leave the cloves whole. One bite into a whole clove and the table will remember your mistake more than your mole.

6. 6

   Blend the green base

   In a blender, combine the cooked tomatillos, serranos, roasted poblano, toasted pepitas, sesame seeds, ground spices, cilantro, parsley, hoja santa, epazote, romaine, and 2 cups of the warm chicken broth. Blend longer than you think, until the sauce is smooth and thick. If the blender struggles, add another splash of broth. You want a pourable paste, not chopped salad.

7. 7

   Fry the mole

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy pot over medium heat. Pour in the green paste carefully. It will sputter. Stir with a wooden spoon for 8 to 10 minutes, until the color deepens and the sauce smells cooked, nutty, and herbal instead of raw. La manteca es el sabor. Oil will cook it, yes, but lard gives it the roundness Guerrero cooks expect.

8. 8

   Thicken with masa

   Whisk the fresh masa with 1 cup warm chicken broth until smooth, then stir it into the cazuela. Add 2 more cups of broth and simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring often so the seed paste does not stick. The mole should coat the spoon like heavy cream. If it gets too thick, add broth a little at a time. Masa thickens slowly, so give it time.

9. 9

   Return the chicken

   Nestle the poached chicken pieces into the green mole. Spoon sauce over every piece and simmer 10 minutes more, just enough for the chicken to absorb the flavor. Taste for salt. The sauce should be green, nutty, slightly tart from tomatillo, and fragrant from hoja santa. It should not taste like raw herbs.

10. 10

    Serve from the cazuela

    Bring the cazuela to the table with warm corn tortillas and white rice. Spoon the mole generously over the chicken. This is family food for a serious table, not a tiny stripe on a white plate. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy raw hulled pepitas, not salted snack pepitas. The seed is the body of this mole. If it tastes stale before it goes into the comal, the finished sauce will taste tired.
• •Hoja santa matters. It gives an anise and sassafras note that cilantro cannot fake. Look for it in Mexican markets or grow it if you cook this food often. If you cannot find it, leave it out and understand what you are missing. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •This mole is green, not fiery. The serranos give structure, not punishment. If you want more heat, put a salsa on the table. Do not turn Guerrero's mole verde into a chile dare.
• •Mole is not chocolate sauce. Some moles use chocolate. Many do not. This one belongs to the seed-thickened family of pepianes, and its depth comes from toasted pepitas, masa, herbs, and the broth.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken can be poached one day ahead. Refrigerate the chicken in its strained broth so it stays moist.
• •The pepitas, sesame seeds, and spices can be toasted one day ahead and kept covered at room temperature.
• •The finished mole keeps for three days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently and loosen with chicken broth because the pepitas and masa continue to thicken as they sit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 440g)