Mole Rojo Guerrerense (Sauce)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or clay comal for toasting chiles
• •12-inch clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wooden spoon for frying and stirring the mole

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the chiles

   Wipe the chiles with a dry cloth. Stem them, open them flat, and shake out the seeds. Do not rinse dried chiles under water. You wash away aroma before the comal has a chance to wake it up.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the pasilla, ancho, and guajillo separately, 10 to 20 seconds per side, pressing them with a spatula until the skins blister and the kitchen smells deep and raisiny. The pasilla is thin and turns bitter fast. If a chile blackens, throw it out. Burned chile will ruin the whole cazuela.

   Pasilla mexicano is long, dark, and wrinkled. It is dried chilaca, not dried poblano. Many stores outside Mexico label ancho as pasilla. Fix that at the market before you cook.
3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water, not boiling. Set a small plate on top so they stay submerged. Let them soften for 20 minutes. Drain them. Use broth for blending, not the soaking water, unless you are desperate. That water often carries the rough edge of the skins.

4. 4

   Roast the vegetables

   On the same comal, roast the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, and unpeeled garlic. Turn them until the tomato skins blister, the tomatillos slump with yellow-brown spots, the onion edges char, and the garlic softens inside its skin. Peel the garlic. This roasted sharpness is part of Guerrero's mountain register. Do not replace it with tomato puree from a can.

5. 5

   Toast spices and sesame

   Toast the 1/2 cup sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until golden and nutty. Scrape them out. In the same skillet, toast the anís seed, cumin, peppercorns, cloves, and canela for 30 to 45 seconds, just until fragrant. Rub the Mexican oregano between your palms and keep it ready. Anís gives this mole its backbone, but too much heat makes it bitter.

6. 6

   Blend the paste

   In a blender, combine the drained chiles, roasted tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, peeled garlic, toasted sesame, toasted spices, oregano, and 2 cups of warm broth. Blend until completely smooth. Work in batches if your blender is small. If the blades struggle, add a little more broth. You want a fine paste, not a chunky salsa.

7. 7

   Strain the mole

   Pass the blended paste through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing with a spoon until only skins and spice grit remain. This step is work. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo. A Guerrerense mole should be lean and smooth enough to coat meat without dragging chile skins across your tongue.

8. 8

   Fry in manteca

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Pour in the strained paste carefully. It will sputter. Stir with a wooden spoon for 10 to 12 minutes, until the paste darkens to red-brown, thickens, and the fat begins to show at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Oil will cook it, but manteca gives it the Guerrero kitchen smell.

9. 9

   Simmer the sauce

   Stir in the remaining broth and the salt. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, then lower the heat and cook 35 to 40 minutes, stirring often so the bottom does not catch. The mole should coat the back of a spoon and fall in a slow ribbon. If it gets too thick, add broth a few tablespoons at a time. Do not add chocolate. Do not add flour. Mole is not chocolate sauce, and this version does not need a wheat crutch.

10. 10

    Rest and finish

    Taste for salt, then let the mole rest at least 30 minutes before serving. Scatter the reserved toasted sesame seeds over the surface if the sauce is going straight to the table. Use it over turkey, chicken, pork, tamales, or enchiladas. The sauce is the architecture. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chiles from a vendor who knows the difference between pasilla, ancho, and guajillo. Pasilla is not a marketing name. It is a specific dried chile, long and almost black, with a raisin smell. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
• •This is Sierra Madre del Sur mole rojo, not Costa Chica sauce. Chile costeño belongs to another Guerrero register, especially along the coast. Here the pasilla leads.
• •Anís seed means semilla de anís, the tiny seed sold in Mexican spice bins. Do not use star anise. If you truly cannot find anís, a pinch of fennel seed will move in the same direction, but it is a compromise, not the same sauce.
• •The broth decides the final flavor. If the mole will go over turkey, use turkey broth. If it will go over chicken, use chicken broth. Water makes a thinner, quieter sauce.
• •Do not serve this with flour tortillas just because they are in your pantry. Guerrero is corn country. If tortillas come to the table, they are warm corn tortillas with uneven edges from the press.

Advance Preparation

• •Mole rojo guerrerense can be made 3 days ahead and refrigerated. The chile, sesame, and anís settle into each other overnight, and the sauce tastes stronger the next day.
• •To reheat, loosen the mole with warm broth and stir over low heat until glossy again. Do not let it scorch on the bottom of the cazuela.
• •The finished sauce freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat slowly with a little broth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 160g)