Pollo en Mole Coloradito con Ayocotes
El Arte de los Moles: Demystifying the Sauces
When you grow up with the smell of toasted chiles and simmering garlic lingering in the hallways of your childhood home, standard supermarket enchilada sauce just won’t cut it. You want the real thing. Oaxacan Mole Coloradito is the approachable, weeknight-friendly cousin to the monumental Mole Negro—sweet, savory, and relying on a magical blend of ancho and guajillo chiles, sweet plantain, and warm spices. The grandma secret here isn't just the ingredients; it’s the technique. You absolutely must fry the blended raw chile paste in smoking hot pork lard to cook out the raw bite and marry the flavors together. Pour it over shredded chicken and massive, ancient ayocote beans, and you've captured the exact taste of home.
Ingredients
- dried Ayocotes Morados or Negros1 cup
- white onion1/4 med
- garlic cloves2 small
- fresh epazote sprig1 small
- kosher salt2 tsp
- dried ancho chiles5 med
- dried guajillo chiles5 med
- manteca de cerdo (pork lard)3 tbsp
- sesame seeds1/4 cup
- raw almonds1/4 cup
- raisins3 tbsp
- ripe black-skinned plantain1/2 med
- stale bolillo roll1/2 med
- white onion1/2 med
- garlic cloves4 small
- roma tomatoes2 large
- Mexican cinnamon stick1 med
- whole cloves3 small
- whole allspice berries3 small
- dried Mexican oregano1/2 tsp
- low-sodium chicken broth4 cup
- Mexican drinking chocolate1 1/2 oz
- pre-cooked rotisserie chicken1 med
Method
- 01
Fast-track the ancient ayocote beans using an electric pressure cooker.
Place the rinsed ayocotes, 1/4 onion, 2 garlic cloves, and epazote in the cooker, cover with 2 inches of water, and cook on high pressure for 35 to 40 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then open the lid, add a heavy pinch of salt, and simmer on the sauté setting for 5 more minutes so the beans absorb the salt while keeping warm in their broth.
- 02
Briefly toast the dried chiles on a hot, dry skillet.
Working in batches over medium heat, press the flattened, seeded ancho and guajillo chiles against a dry cast iron skillet for 10 to 15 seconds per side until fragrant and slightly blistered. Do not let them burn or turn black, then transfer the toasted chiles to a bowl, cover with very hot water, and let them soak for 15 minutes until soft.
- 03
Fry the aromatics and thickeners sequentially in manteca to build layers of flavor.
In the same skillet over medium-low heat, toast the sesame seeds until golden and transfer to a blender. Add 1 tablespoon of manteca to the skillet to fry the almonds and raisins until puffed, followed by the plantain and bread slices until golden brown, transferring everything to the blender as it finishes. Finally, sauté the onion, garlic, tomatoes, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and oregano until the tomatoes break down, then add to the blender.
- 04
Blend the soaked chiles and fried ingredients into a thick, velvety paste.
Drain the soaked chiles, discarding the bitter soaking water, and add them to the blender with all the fried ingredients and 1 cup of warm chicken broth. Blend on high until you have an incredibly smooth, thick paste, adding just enough extra broth to keep the blades moving if it struggles.
- 05
Sazonar the mole by frying the raw paste in screaming hot manteca.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of manteca until it is shimmering and nearly smoking. Carefully pour the blended mole paste into the hot fat—standing back as it sputters—then lower the heat to medium and stir constantly for 10 to 12 minutes until the color deepens to a brick-red and the oils slightly separate at the edges.
- 06
Simmer and finish the sauce with warm chicken broth and Mexican chocolate.
Gradually whisk in 2 to 3 more cups of warm chicken broth until the mole reaches the consistency of heavy cream. Bring to a gentle simmer, stir in the chopped Mexican chocolate and kosher salt, and cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently so the bottom doesn't scorch.
- 07
Fold the chicken into the mole and serve generously over the broth-soaked beans.
Toss your large chunks of cooked shredded chicken directly into the simmering mole sauce just long enough to heat them through. Spoon a generous portion of the creamy ayocotes into shallow bowls, top with the chicken and mole, garnish with toasted sesame seeds, and serve with hot corn tortillas.
Notes
The Blender Challenge
Traditional mole is ground on a metate, which crushes spices into microscopic particles. Modern blenders can sometimes leave fragments of cinnamon or clove. If your blender isn't high-powered, you can use a spice grinder to turn your cloves, allspice, and cinnamon into a powder before adding them to the blender, ensuring a silky-smooth sauce.
Fixing a Bitter Mole
If you accidentally burned a chile and your sauce tastes bitter, don't panic. You can balance it by adding an extra half-disc of Mexican chocolate, a pinch of brown sugar, or a little extra chicken broth to dilute the astringency.
Make Ahead Strategy
Mole is famously better the next day. You can make the sauce entirely on a Sunday, keep it in the fridge, and simply heat it up and toss in a rotisserie chicken on a busy Wednesday night.
From Cook Oaxacan in America.