Mexican
Mole Poblano with Chicken
★★★★½ (4.9)
A rich, complex sauce built from dried chiles, nuts, spices, and a touch of chocolate, simmered with chicken until deeply flavorful - Mexico's most celebrated sauce, made approachable step by step.
- Balanced blend of dried chiles, nuts, and chocolate creates real depth, not just sweetness
- Straining the sauce gives it a silky, restaurant-quality texture
- A true showstopper for a special occasion, worth the ingredient list
- Season the chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon salt. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat and brown the chicken, skin-side down first, 4 minutes per side, until golden but not cooked through. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pot, toast the ancho, pasilla, and mulato chiles for 20 seconds per side over medium heat until fragrant and slightly puffed, then transfer to a bowl, cover with 3 cups hot water, and soak 15 minutes until soft.
- While the chiles soak, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet over medium heat and fry the almonds, raisins, and torn tortilla piece for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the almonds turn light golden and the raisins puff up. Remove and set aside.
- In the same small skillet, saute the onion and garlic over medium heat for 4 minutes until softened, then add the chopped tomato and cook 3 more minutes until it breaks down slightly.
- Drain the soaked chiles, reserving 1.5 cups of the soaking liquid. Working in batches if needed, blend the chiles, reserved soaking liquid, the almond-raisin-tortilla mixture, the onion-garlic-tomato mixture, cinnamon, and cloves until as smooth as possible, about 2 minutes; the mixture will be thick.
- Strain the blended sauce through a coarse mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing firmly with the back of a spoon to push through as much as possible; discard the fibrous solids left behind.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the large pot over medium heat, then carefully pour in the strained mole sauce (it will spatter). Fry the sauce, stirring frequently, for 8 minutes until it darkens slightly and thickens.
- Stir in the remaining 1.5 cups chicken broth and the chopped chocolate, stirring until the chocolate fully melts into the sauce, about 3 minutes.
- Return the browned chicken pieces to the pot, nestling them into the sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of water or broth if the sauce gets too thick.
- The chicken is done when it reaches 165 F internally and the meat is tender and pulls easily from the bone. Taste the sauce and add salt as needed; it should taste rich, slightly sweet, and only mildly spicy.
- Serve the chicken generously coated in mole sauce, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, alongside warm tortillas or rice.
Straining the sauce through a sieve after blending is not optional if you want smooth mole - dried chile skins and nut bits will otherwise leave the sauce grainy no matter how long you blend.
Fry the strained sauce in a bit of oil before adding liquid; this step, called frying the mole, concentrates and deepens the flavor far more than simply simmering it thin from the start.
Nutrition (per serving)
520Calories
34gProtein
32gFat
28gCarbs
6gFiber
610mgSodium
Nutrition information is estimated and provided for convenience only.
You might also like
