Oaxacan yellow mole, also known as mole amarillo, is a traditional Mexican dish originating in the state of Oaxaca. This rich and flavorful sauce is made with a blend of spices, herbs, and chiles, and is typically served over chicken or pork. The most common ingredients in Oaxacan yellow mole include tomatoes, onions, garlic, cumin, coriander, chili powder, and achiote paste. However, there are many different variations of the recipe, and each family has their own secret ingredients. The complexity of flavors in Oaxacan yellow mole makes it a popular dish for special occasions, such as weddings, baptisms, and birthdays.
Check out the recipes below so you can choose the best recipe for yourself!
OAXACAN RED MOLE SAUCE (MOLE COLORADITO)
This is a classic Oaxacan dish, served with rice. Each family has their own version, this one is made by the Restaurant La Olla, Oaxaca México. A little information: Oaxaca is to Mexican food lovers and cooks perhaps what Florence is to art aficionados. Walking through any village market, or just down the street in Oaxaca is a aromatic as well as visual delight. In Oaxaca, it is difficult for one to walk for very long without ending up in a market and passing a dozen little restaurants. Not only has Oaxaca made significant contributions to the flavors of the world - especially with its extraordinary mole (mo-lay) sauces: sharp, thick, sweetly complex, with top notes of smoke, sometimes clove and citrus and always undertones of dried-chile heat, but the Indians from Oaxaca invented two of the cooking utensils that are still essential in Mexican cooking: the molcajete (stone utensil used to crush and mix spices) and the comal (metal utensil for heating and baking). Oaxaca is justly famous worldwide for its vibrant, inventive, and diverse cuisine. The markets and restaurants produce their succulent, rich moles for which Oaxaca is famous. There are at least seven basic varieties of mole made in the region. Here are nine: negro (black), amarillo (yellow), coloradito (reddish), almendrado (with almonds), verde (green), rojo (red), Manchamanteles (tablecloth stainer) and chichilo negro. There is always mole being served in Oaxaca, such as the coloradito; with its brick-red color of roasted chiles, sautéed spices, and ground, charred bread, it is elusively spicy and with a slightly tangy sweetness, a little smoky, with the fullness of toasted grain and a bit more pungent than the negro or the amarillo, which is especially mild, with its clean chile flavor, a strong top note of cumin and a slightly oily texture.
Provided by Sharon123
Categories Chicken Breast
Time 1h55m
Yield 6 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 23
Steps:
- Chicken:.
- Cook the chicken in 4 cups of water, with garlic, onion and salt on medium heat for 45 minutes. Check to make sure that the chicken is cooked through.
- Mole sauce:.
- Wash the chiles with a damp cloth, remove the stems of the chiles, slit open with a knife and remove the seeds and veins. Toast the chiles on both sides in large frying pan over high heat, making sure that they do not burn.
- Soak the chiles in boiling water to soften them for about 10 minute Meanwhile, fry the almonds in 3 tbls. of the shortening on medium heat for 5 min., or until they are a golden color.
- Take them out and set aside.
- Next fry the raisins until they puff up and the skin browns a bit, then remove and strain in a sieve. Turn the heat down a bit, and fry the sesame seeds in the same oil, adding a little salt to prevent them from jumping from pan.
- Once golden, remove and store on an absorbent paper towel. Still in the same oil, fry the slices of bread, until they are golden. Remove and put on an absorbent paper towel. On a dry pan or skittle roast the garlic, onion and tomato until they are nicely toasted with black spots.
- In a blender, grind the chiles with a half cup of water, and add more water as necessary to blend. Once the mixture is smooth, pour into a saucepan and fry with one tbsp of the shortening for 10 minute on medium heat. Stirring occasionally to ensure that it does not stick to the pan.
- Next, blend both the roasted and fried ingredients together, until smooth. Blend the tomatoes and strain through a colander and add into the chile mixture. Now add the cinnamon sick, thyme, marjoram(if using) and the oregano. Cook for 5 more minutes. Add the chicken broth, salt, sugar and chocolate on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove cinnamon stick. Cool for 15 minutes. Pour the chicken in a serving dish, serve with rice.
OAXACAN YELLOW MOLE FILLING
Oaxaca is the place where they invented mole sauce, "that perfect specimen of Mexican cooking," according to Ana M. de Benitez in "Pre-Hispanic Cooking." This is also where the natives carve wonderful mythological creatures and eat their tamales steamed in banana leaves (unlike anywhere else in Mexico).
Provided by Molly O'Neill
Categories sauces and gravies
Time 45m
Yield 4 servings
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatillos, cinnamon, oregano, cloves and peppercorns. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the tomatillos are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the chilies in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak until very soft, 10 to 20 minutes. Place the tomatillo mixture in a food processor. Pulse to partly puree. Add the chilies, one at a time, tasting after each addition until the filling is as hot as you like it. Puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt. Follow directions for basic tamales.
MOLE NEGRO OAXAQUENO: OAXACAN BLACK MOLE
Steps:
- In a 2 gallon stockpot, heat 5 quarts water and onions, celery, and carrots to a boil. Add chicken pieces and poach, covered, over low heat for about 35 to 45 minutes, until cooked through and juices run clear when pierced with a fork. Remove the meat from the stock. Strain and reserve the stock.
- Heat 2 quarts of water in a kettle. On a 10-inch dry comal, griddle, or in a cast-iron frying pan, toast the chiles over medium heat until blackened, but not burnt, about 10 minutes. Place the chiles in a large bowl, cover with hot water, and soak for 1/2 hour. Remove the chiles from the soaking water with tongs, placing small batches in a blender with 1/4 cup of the chile soaking water to blend smooth. Put the chile puree through a strainer to remove the skins.
- In the same dry comal, griddle, or frying pan, grill the onion and garlic over medium heat for 10 minutes. Set aside. Toast the almonds, peanuts, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, and cloves in a dry comal, griddle or cast-iron frying pan for about 5 minutes. Remove them from the pan.
- Over the same heat, toast the chile seeds, taking care to blacken but not burn them, about 20 minutes. Try to do this outside or in a well-ventilated place because the seeds will give off very strong fumes. When the seeds are completely black, light them with a match and let them burn themselves out. Remove from the heat and place in a bowl. Soak the blackened seeds in 1 cup of cold water for 10 minutes. Drain the seeds and grind them in a blender for about 2 minutes. Add the blended chile seeds to the blended chile mixture.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in an 8-inch cast-iron frying pan over medium heat until smoking. Add the raisins and fry them until they are plump, approximately 1 minute. Remove from the pan. Fry the bread slice in the same oil until browned, about 5 minutes, over medium heat. Remove from pan. Fry the plantain in the same oil until it is well browned, approximately 10 minutes, over medium heat. Set aside. Fry the sesame seeds, stirring constantly over low heat, adding more oil if needed. When the sesame seeds start to brown, about 5 minutes, add the pecans and brown for 2 minutes more. Remove all from the pan, let cool, and grind finely in a spice grinder. It takes a bit of time, but this is the only way to grind the seeds and nuts finely enough.
- Wipe out the frying pan and fry the tomatoes, tomatillos, thyme, and oregano over medium to high heat, allowing the juices to almost evaporate, about 15 minutes. Blend well, using 1/2 cup of reserved stock if needed to blend and set aside. Place the nuts, bread, plantains, raisins, onion, garlic and spices in the blender in small batches, and blend well, adding about 1 cup of stock to make it smooth.
- In a heavy 4-quart stockpot, heat 2 tablespoons of lard or oil until smoking and fry the chile paste over medium to low heat, stirring constantly so it will not burn, approximately 20 minutes. When it is dry, add the tomato puree and fry until the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add the ground ingredients, including the sesame seed paste, to the pot. Stir constantly with a wooden soon until well-incorporated, about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup chicken stock to the mole, stir well, and allow to cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Break up the chocolate and add to the pot, stirring until it is melted and incorporated into the mixture.
- Toast the avocado leaf briefly over the flame if you have a gas range or in a dry frying pan and then add it to the pot. Slowly add more stock to the mole, as it will keep thickening as it cooks. Add enough salt to bring out the flavor. Let simmer another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not stick, adding stock as needed. The mole should not be thick; just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Place the cooked chicken pieces in the leftover stock in a saucepan and heat through.
- To serve, place a piece of chicken in a shallow bowl and ladle 3/4 of a cup of mole sauce over to cover it completely. Serve immediately with lots of hot corn tortillas.
- You can use oil instead of lard to fry the mole, but the flavor will change dramatically. In our pueblo, people traditionally use turkey instead of chicken, and sometimes add pieces of pork and beef to enhance the flavor. You can use leftover mole and chicken meat to make Enmoladas or Tamales Oazaquenos made with banana leaves.
- Inspired by Maria Taboada and Paula Martinez
MOLE AMARILLO -- MEXICAN YELLOW SAUCE -- YELLOW MOLE SAUCE
Called simply (and fondly) "amarillo", this sauce is a specialty of the Central Valleys region of Oaxaca. This mole is particularly versatile-try it over chicken and potatoes, beef or as a sauce for tamales. Courtesy of Aaron Sanchez.
Provided by Molly53
Categories < 60 Mins
Time 40m
Yield 2 quarts
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil.
- In a dry cast-iron skillet or comal, toast the guajillo and ancho chiles over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, until fragrant; turn them and shake the pan so they don't scorch.
- Put the toasted chiles in a bowl, cover with the boiling water, and let soak until softened and reconstituted, about 20 minutes.
- Return the skillet to medium-high heat to get quite hot.
- Rub the onion, garlic, tomatillos, and tomato with the oil.
- Lay the vegetables in the hot pan and roast, turning occasionally, until soft and well charred on all sides, about 10 minutes.
- Put the vegetables in a bowl to let them cool a bit.
- Meanwhile, grind the peppercorns and cloves in a coffee grinder or spice mill.
- Put everything together in a blender or food processor and puree in batches until completely smooth.
- Melt the lard in a skillet over medium heat and pour in the puree.
- Cook and stir for 5 minutes, until the mole deepens in color.
- In a small bowl, mix the masa harina with 1/4 cup of warm water until smooth and lump-free.
- Whisk into the sauce and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened and able to coat the back of a spoon.
BASIC TAMALES
Provided by Molly O'Neill
Categories dinner, project, main course
Time 1h45m
Yield 4 servings
Number Of Ingredients 7
Steps:
- To make the dough, place the masa harina in a large bowl. Use a wooden spoon to beat in just enough chicken broth to make a smooth, soft dough, like a medium-pliable bread dough.
- Beat the lard in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until very fluffy and fully aerated, about 3 minutes. Still mixing on medium speed, begin adding the masa a handful at a time, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. If the mixture becomes too stiff, add up to 1 cup of broth a little at a time. When all the masa has been incorporated, the mixture should be very light and delicate, the texture of buttercream frosting. Beat in the salt.
- To fill and steam the tamales, drain the corn husks and select as many as you can of the larger pieces, being careful not to open the crinkled leaves of the core that are full of corn silk. If necessary, select some of the better-looking middle-size or narrow pieces and paste them together with a little of the tamale dough. Pat the husks dry. Place a husk on a work surface. Spread 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the dough across the wide end of the husk, covering it from side to side and extending about halfway up toward the narrow tip. Place 1 heaping tablespoon (smaller husks will take less) of filling in the center of the dough. Make a cone shape by folding the 2 long edges over the filling so that they overlap slightly. Fold in half crosswise. Repeat with the remaining husks and filling. As they are finished, place the tamales on a baking sheet (they can be refrigerated, covered with plastic wrap, up to 1 day, or frozen for 1 month).
- Have a steamer and insert ready, with about 1 inch of boiling water in the bottom of the pot. Place the tamales in the insert, in layers as necessary. Place some of the unused corn husks over the tamales to help absorb the steam. Cover tightly and bring quickly to a full boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer. Cook for 1 hour, adding boiling water as necessary. Remove the steamer basket and let the tamales stand 10 minutes before serving.
Tips:
- Toast your dried chiles in a skillet over medium heat until they are fragrant and slightly browned. This will bring out their flavor and make them easier to grind.
- Soak your dried chiles in hot water for at least 30 minutes before blending them. This will help to soften them and make them easier to blend.
- Use a high-powered blender to blend your mole sauce until it is smooth and creamy. A regular blender may not be able to get the sauce smooth enough.
- Taste your mole sauce as you go and adjust the seasonings accordingly. You may want to add more chili powder, cumin, or salt to taste.
- Serve your mole sauce with your favorite Mexican dishes, such as chicken, pork, or vegetables.
Conclusion:
Oaxacan Yellow Mole is a delicious and complex sauce that is perfect for special occasions. While it may take some time to make, it is well worth the effort. The rich, smoky flavor of the chiles and the creamy texture of the sauce make it a truly unique and unforgettable dish.
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