"Oaxaca's mole negro contains over 30 ingredients — dried chillies, chocolate, charred tortilla, plantain, spices — each toasted separately before grinding. The process takes two days."
About Mole Negro
Mexico's most complex sauce and its most revered culinary achievement — over 30 ingredients including mulato, ancho and pasilla negro dried chillies, Mexican chocolate, plantain, raisins, tomato, charred tortilla and spices toasted, soaked and ground into a paste, then simmered for hours; poured over turkey or chicken; a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Oaxacan cuisine.
Mole Negro — a staple of Mexico's cuisine
Oaxaca's most complex sauce contains more than 30 ingredients — mulato, ancho and pasilla negro dried chillies, Mexican chocolate, plantain, raisins, almonds, tomato, tomatillo, charred tortilla, sesame seeds and at least twelve additional spices, each toasted separately before grinding. The process takes two days when done correctly.
The Mexican chocolate in mole negro is unsweetened or minimally sweetened and provides bitterness rather than sweetness. It acts as a thickener and adds a specific mineral depth. Without it, the mole is incomplete.
What to Expect
The mole negro arrives dark as night — almost black — poured over turkey or chicken on white rice. The first spoonful has depth upon depth: chilli heat building, chocolate bitterness arriving, the sweetness of raisin and plantain resolving it.
Why Try It
Mole negro is Mexican cooking's most ambitious preparation — the dish that takes the longest to make, contains the most components and produces the most complexity.
Insider Tips
Oaxaca City's Mercado 20 de Noviembre serves reliable mole negro at market stalls.
The colour should be very dark — a brown mole negro has been under-reduced.
Order it over turkey (guajolote) if available — the traditional protein for mole negro.
