Chicken Mole

Mole! No accents on these letters, as I thought for so long. I went to Chicago recently and had the best mole I've had in my life. Coincidentally, when my uncle suggested this spot, I'd already been considering making it. We went to Kie-Gol-Lanee, somewhere I'd highly, highly recommend checking out.

Another dish with a deep history, mole (formerly mulli) dates back to the Aztecs and was originally made with turkey. There are many variants, but most of us hear the dish and know one thing: it's got chocolate in the sauce.

That brings me to the next topic of discussion. Is this dish sweet? No, not by a long shot. Mexican chocolate is different from your run of the mill chocolate in a few ways. It typically contains some cinnamon (yum!) and can have nuts or other spices folded in. Where most chocolate I see locally has a milk %, Mexican chocolate is usually labeled with how much sugar it contains. But the biggest difference is aeration. European chocolate tends to go through a process that makes the flavor more mellow. Long story short, Mexican chocolate is less processed and can be grainier and have a heavier flavor. Read more detail here. In my case, I used a super dark (85%) chocolate, the most similar I had.

I spent some time peeking at recipes, imagining I'd be burning chocolate to start, and came across one that seemed ideal. I looked for some different varieties of dried peppers to no avail (I swear they used to be common), but tracked down a can of chipotles (with a little adobo seasoning) and already had pasillas. 

This was my opportunity to cook a different chicken cut - I've noted a few times recently that I use chicken breasts most commonly, but feel like I need to steer away and introduce different types. Varieties serve a purpose. For example, chicken thighs tend to be more moist. In this recipe, it proves a perfect selection.

The cooking part is pretty straightforward. I started out by browning the chicken thighs on both sides in a dutch oven. I poured over some broth and orange juice, covered it and let it cook for a little less than half an hour. I really scaled back a lot in terms of quantity from the original recipe I looked at which was making a massive amount. I made about 70% less, and adjusted seasonings to accommodate.

Once the chicken was done, I picked them out and set them on a plate, keeping the broth mixture. In a separate pan, I cooked some onions until soft and browned, then added pepitas, almonds, garlic, cumin, coriander, anise, and cloves. I cooked them for a few minutes, until the garlic was fragrant and the dry ingredients toasted, and then added in some chopped dried chiles (and some canned chipotle) and let it cook a few more minutes. I then dumped the dry ingredients into the broth mixture, heat it to a simmer, and let it cook for about 20 minutes. The goal was to really soften the dried chiles and meld the flavors together.

After this cooked, I dumped everything into my food processor.

I blended it all for about a minute, until it was smooth, and then returned it to the pan.

The last steps were adding some tomato paste and cooking a bit longer, then stirring in that very famous mole ingredient: chocolate.

I shredded the chicken (which came out very tender!) and tossed it in some sauce. I served it over the rice and of course, added some more sauce.

The end result was a very flavorful, subtly spicy sauce. The dried peppers are not a must if a bit of heat is not desired, but I found this very tolerable. Did I taste chocolate? No, not at all. The mix of spices produced a rather complex flavor, one that was quite savory and fulfilling.

The great thing about this recipe is that it was not too much. I think the sauce to meat ratio was quite close, with enough extra to allow less or more saucing to taste. With the leftovers, I served broccoli, which was a good fit. All in all, I have to say I'm quite impressed at the simplicity of this dish. It requires 2 pans, but was not heavily time consuming and made a really fulfilling meal. This will absolutely proudly become part of my repertoire, one I will use to qualify myself as a sophisticated cook when the opportunity arises. Buen provecho.

Chicken Mole Recipe

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons cooking oil (I used avocado)

1.5-2 pounds chicken - you can use different cuts, but I used chicken thighs

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup orange juice

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon cup pepitas or pumpkin seeds

1 tablespoon sliced almonds

2 tablespoons minced garlic (2 cloves garlic)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 star anise seeds

2 whole cloves

1 dried pasilla chile (optional) 

2 tablespoons canned chipotle chiles - (or 1 dried chipotle chile) (optional)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 small bay leaf

1 tablespoon raisins

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (if using powdered, use a dash)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped

Cooked rice or tortillas

Instructions:

Heat a Dutch oven (or thick bottomed pot) over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil to the pot. Cook the chicken on each side until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Add the chicken broth and orange juice to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside, keeping broth mixture in the pot.

Carefully remove chicken to a clean bowl and set aside. Reserve broth for later use.

In a separate skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté and stir frequently until browned and beginning to caramelize, which takes 10-12 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, then add pumpkin seeds, almonds, garlic, cumin, coriander, anise, and cloves to the saucepan. Sauté for 1-2 minutes, until garlic becomes fragrant, stirring continuously. Rinse and sllice dried chilies into smaller, 1/2-1 inch pieces, removing the stem and seeds. 

Add the chiles to the pot and stir to combine. Sauté for approximately 2-3 minutes or until chiles start to soften. Scoop the mixture into the pot with the chicken broth mixture and stir. Add the cinnamon, bay leaf, raisins,  thyme, and oregano to the saucepan and mix well. Bring to simmer, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until dried chiles are softened, approximately 25-30 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour or spoon into a large blender or food processer. Blend until smooth, at least 1 minute. Return to pot, stir in the tomato paste, and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate. Allow sauce to cool for a few minutes, then stir in chocolate. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

To complete the mole, shred the cooked chicken and toss in some of the sauce. Serve with rice and add more sauce as desired, or on a tortilla.

adapted from mexican mole sauce recipe