Lizbeth’s Mole Poblano
This month's recipe comes straight from the kitchen of one of our homestay families. Former Na’atik student, Lizbeth, is the daughter of Don José and Doña Maria who have been welcoming Na’atik Spanish and Maya students to their home for nine years. Lizbeth’s own daughter is also now studying here at Na’atik. As anyone who has stayed with José and Maria will know, food is an important part of their household, with delicious meals served for the whole family every day. Despite her love of cooking, Doña Maria always says that mole is too much work to cook from scratch, her daughter however decided to master the recipe, and every month or so the family, and any student who is lucky enough to be staying at the time, enjoy one of the most difficult but rewardingly delicious of Mexican dishes.
Mole, pronounced /mō lā/, is perhaps one of Mexico’s most famous and cherished dishes. The name can refer to a number of different varieties of sauces depending on the region in Mexico it comes from. The very word, mole, derives from the Nahuatl word for ‘sauce’. The mole most well-known both inside and outside of Mexico, sometimes referred to as mole poblano, is a rich, dark sauce combining the flavors of chiles and chocolate. Many visitors to Mexico are enchanted by the unique combination of flavors, although it can take a few mouthfuls to adapt for the first-time eater! While originally from the state Puebla, Mexico, mole poblano is now enjoyed all over Mexico and beyond.
As with many moles, it is famously challenging to make, and even many abuelas, grandmas, buy premade paste from the local market rather than tackle the process from the start. That said, there is nothing quite like the taste of true, homemade mole.
We hope you enjoy Lizbeth’s mole recipe as much as those who have tried it!
Ingredients
6 to 8 ancho chillies (dried poblano peppers)
6 to 8 guajillo chillies (dried mirasol chillies)
5 pasilla chillies (sometimes called chile negro)
1 or 2 chipotle chillies (dried jalapeños)
1 or 2 chile de árbol (bird’s beak chillies)
5.25 oz or 150g peanuts (raw or roasted)
2 oz or 50g sesame seeds (raw or roasted)
10-15 almonds (raw or roasted)
1 small white onion
3 to 4 tomatoes
6 garlic cloves
6 to 9 oz / 170 - 250g of chocolate (Lizbeth recommends the Abuelita brand of Mexican hot chocolate tablets)
10 cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
10 dried rosemary leaves
2 or 3 plantains
1 tbsp chicken bouillon
2 pinches ground black pepper
15 to 20 animal crackers
1 whole chicken
2.5 cups / 500g white rice
1.25 cups / 200g prunes
Salt to taste
Water
Broth from boiling the chicken as needed
Method
The Day Before:
Wash the chicken and remove the parts you are not intending to use.
Bring water to boil in a pot and then add the washed chicken and wait for the water to begin to foam.
Add salt, pepper, garlic, white onion and bouillon to season and leave to cook.
Devein and deseed the chilies (we recommend using gloves for this and don’t touch your eyes after you’ve touched the seeds) and the prunes (if you cannot buy without seeds).
Cut the plantains, white onion, garlic and tomatoes roughly into medium-sized pieces.
Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Fry the ingredients in the following order: the chillies, tomatoes, onion, garlic, plantains, sesame seeds, peanuts, almonds, cinnamon, rosemary, cloves, animal crackers and finally the chocolate. Fry until just golden and be careful to not burn the ingredients.
Bring water to boil, then add the fried ingredients to a large bowl and cover with boiling water.
Cover the bowl with a dish cloth and leave overnight.
Day 2
Start by adding more chicken stock to the ingredient mix.
Then mix the ingredients well with a spoon before adding to a blender and blend well until combined.
Strain the sauce through a sieve twice and place into a saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the chicken.
Wait five to ten minutes and then bring the mixture to a boil again.
The sauce is ready when the whole mixture is boiling, at this point remove it from the heat.
Meanwhile, add oil to a pan and once hot add the rice and fry until every grain appears fried.
Use the remaining chicken stock to cook the rice until soft.
Serve the rice and mole together and decorate with some sesame seeds.
Lizbeth recommends serving her mole with some fresh corn tortillas or bread, and a cold coke or fruit juice.
If you want to try out some other Mexican, Yucatán or Maya recipes from the Na’atik family, visit our blog, where new recipes are uploaded every month, along with articles about culture, history and language.
If you want to sample the unique flavors of the Mexican Caribbean, the best place is in the kitchens of local families. Na’atik Spanish or Maya immersion students stay with one of our local families during their time with us, sharing three meals a day with their host family. To find out more about how you can improve your language skills and experience the real Mexico, visit our immersion page or send our team an email at say@naatikmexico.org today.