Manchamanteles Poblano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 8-quart stockpot for the pork broth
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting the chiles and charring the tomatoes
• •Wide cazuela de barro or Dutch oven for cooking the mole
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wooden spoon for stirring the mole as it fries

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the pork broth

   Place the pork shoulder in a heavy stockpot. Cover with cold water by two inches. Add the halved onion, the halved head of garlic, the bay leaves, and the salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim the gray foam that rises in the first fifteen minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer partially covered for one hour, until the pork is tender but not falling apart. You are building two things at once: cooked pork and the broth that will carry the mole.

   Cold water and a slow rise. A rolling boil clouds the broth and tightens the pork. There is no rushing this step.
2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   While the pork simmers, heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Toast the ancho, pasilla, and guajillo chiles separately, about 20 to 30 seconds per side. The ancho puffs first. The pasilla is thin and burns the fastest, watch it. The guajillo holds up the longest. The skins should turn fragrant and pliable, never black. The kitchen will smell like a chile vendor's stall at the Mercado de Cholula. That smell is the oils releasing.

   Burned chile is bitter chile. If one goes black, throw it out and toast another. No me vengas con atajos.
3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Transfer the toasted chiles to a heatproof bowl. Cover with hot tap water, not boiling. Boiling water cooks the skin and turns the sauce bitter. Hot water softens the flesh and lets the flavor come through clean. Let them soak for 20 minutes while you work on the rest of the sauce base.

4. 4

   Fry the sauce aromatics

   In a wide skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the manteca over medium heat. Add the almonds and fry until golden, about 2 minutes. Push them to the side and add the sesame seeds, stirring until they turn the color of straw. Add the chopped onion and the 4 cloves of garlic, cook until soft and lightly browned. Add the plantain rounds (the riper one, for the sauce) and fry until the edges caramelize, about 3 minutes per side. The plantain is what gives manchamanteles its body and a quiet sweetness underneath the chile. Lift everything into a blender.

5. 5

   Char the tomatoes and tomatillos

   On the same comal you used for the chiles, char the tomatoes and tomatillos until the skins blister and blacken in spots, about 6 to 8 minutes, turning as needed. The char is flavor. Add them to the blender with the fried aromatics.

6. 6

   Blend the mole base

   Drain the soaked chiles and add them to the blender. Add the canela, cloves, allspice, and the torn corn tortilla. Pour in 2 cups of the warm pork broth. Blend on high until completely smooth. This will take 3 to 4 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on the solids with the back of a ladle. Discard what stays in the sieve. You want a deep brick-red puree with no skins or seeds left in it.

7. 7

   Fry the mole

   In a wide cazuela or Dutch oven, melt the remaining tablespoon of manteca over medium heat. When it shimmers, pour in the strained mole base. It will sputter. Step back. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring almost constantly with a wooden spoon. The mole will darken, thicken, and the fat will start to separate around the edges of the pan. La manteca es el sabor. This step is what turns a chile puree into a mole. Skip it and you have soup.

8. 8

   Brown the chorizo and add the pork

   Push the mole to one side of the cazuela. Add the chorizo in the cleared space and cook, breaking it up with the spoon, until the fat renders and the meat browns, about 5 minutes. Stir the chorizo into the mole. Add the cooked pork chunks along with 4 cups of the strained pork broth. Bring to a gentle simmer.

9. 9

   Add the fruit

   Add the pineapple, the apple, and the second plantain (the firmer one, for the stew). Stir gently so the fruit settles into the mole without breaking. Simmer uncovered over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes. The fruit should soften but still hold its shape. The pineapple acid sharpens the chile. The apple goes tender and the plantain turns custardy at the edges. This is where manchamanteles becomes manchamanteles.

10. 10

    Adjust and finish

    Stir in the vinegar and the sugar. Taste. The mole should be deep, slightly sweet from the fruit, slightly tart from the vinegar, with the chile and the canela holding the center. Add more salt if it tastes shy, more sugar if the chile is winning, more vinegar if it tastes flat. The balance is the cook's signature. Recetas probadas y garantizadas, but you finish it with your own hand.

11. 11

    Serve at the table

    Bring the cazuela to the table. Ladle into shallow clay bowls, making sure each plate gets pork, chorizo, and a generous spoonful of the fruit. Serve with warm corn tortillas and a small bowl of white rice on the side. The name promises it will stain the tablecloth. It will. That is part of the dish. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •The chile ancho should be soft and pliable when you buy it, like a good leather. If it cracks when you bend it, it is old and the flavor is gone. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. They will sell you the fresh ones.
• •The plantain has to be ripe but firm. Black-skinned plantains are too soft and they will dissolve into the sauce. You want yellow with black spots, the same plantain you would use for fried tajadas.
• •Use a real Mexican chorizo, not Spanish chorizo and not breakfast sausage. Chorizo poblano if you can find it, made with vinegar and ancho. Spanish chorizo is cured and smoked and it does not belong in a Mexican mole.
• •Manchamanteles tastes better the next day. If you have the patience, make it the day before, refrigerate it, and reheat it gently. The flavors marry overnight and the fruit settles into the sauce. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo, and good mole rewards the wait.

Advance Preparation

• •The pork broth and the strained chile-fruit base can be made one day ahead and refrigerated separately.
• •The full mole, including the fruit, can be made up to two days ahead. Reheat gently over low heat, adding a splash of broth if it has thickened too much.
• •Manchamanteles freezes well for up to two months. The fruit holds its shape and the chile depth only improves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)