Best Asian Mole Recipes

AUTHENTIC MOLE SAUCE

Steps:

• Toast guajillo chiles, ancho chiles, and chipotle chiles in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until warm and aromatic, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the blender with chicken broth.
• Heat 2 cups chicken broth in a saucepan until it begins to simmer, about 5 minutes. Pour broth into a blender.
• Toast dinner roll pieces and tortilla strips in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the blender with chicken broth and chiles
• Allow the chiles and toasted bread and tortillas to soak, fully submerged, in the chicken broth until softened, about 10 minutes. Blend the mixture until smooth.
• Cook tomatoes and tomatillos in a dry skillet on medium-high heat until soft and blackened, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place tomatoes in the blender with the chile puree.
• Melt lard in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, peanuts, raisins, cumin seeds, thyme, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and allspice berries; cook and stir until onions are soft and golden, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks and other whole spices; add onion mixture to the blender with the chile-tomato mixture and blend until smooth.
• Pour chile puree into a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in chocolate chicken broth, sugar, and salt. Bring mixture to a simmer; stir until chocolate is melted and sauce is thickened and slightly reduced, 10 to 15 minutes.

ASIAN MOLE

Steps:

• Over medium-high heat, sauté onions, garlic, ginger and chile until caramelized.
• Deglaze pan with wine. Add cranberries and 1/4 cup of water, and cook until about three fourths of the liquid is absorbed.
• Transfer to a processor while warm, so that chocolate will melt. Blend with rest of ingredients, including remaining 3 tablespoons of water, until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over meat, tofu, or vegetables.

MOLE SAUCE

Steps:

• Add chicken, garlic, onion, bay leaf, chicken bouillon, salt, oregano and water to pot. Bring to a low boil and cook over medium heat until chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate, (reserving the broth) cover to keep it warm and set aside.
• Add the sesame seeds to a large dry skillet over medium heat and cook them, stirring constantly, until toasted. Be careful not to burn them. Set aside.
• Use scissors to cut a line down all the chilies to open them up flat. Remove veins and seeds.
• Add a few tablespoons of oil to the skillet over medium heat. In a separate large saucepan, add 2 cups of water and turn heat to medium-low.
• Once oil in the skillet is hot, add one layer of chilies at a time to the skillet, frying on both sides for just a few seconds, careful not to burn them, then transfer them to the saucepan of water.
• We will continue to fry most of the remaining ingredients, one at a time, so add a little oil between each batch, as needed, just to coat the bottom of the pan.
• Fry the peanuts stirring often so they toast but don't burn, about 45 seconds. Add to the pot. Repeat with almonds, then raisins, then animal crackers, then corn tortilla, and bread slices, adding each to the saucepan and pressing down as much as possible into the water.
• Turn skillet heat to medium-high and add more oil if needed to coat the bottom of the pan. Add onion and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and fry for just a few seconds before spooning the onion and garlic into the pot. Add sliced plantain to the hot oil and fry on both sides, then add to the pot.
• Reduce heat to medium and add peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, anise, and crushed red pepper to hot oil and fry for a few seconds, stirring constantly, then add to the pot.
• To the saucepan with all of the ingredients, stir in 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 ½ teaspoons chicken bouillon.
• Add the chopped chocolate to a bowl and pour some of the chicken broth into it, to help it melt. Set aside.
• Add 2 tablespoons lard or oil to a large saucepan. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside.
• Working in batches, add everything from the pot with the chilies to a blender and add enough of the reserved chicken broth to allow the mixture to blend. During one of the batches, add ¼ cup of reserved toasted sesame seeds. Blend each batch for several minutes, until completely smooth, adding more chicken broth if needed.
• Pour sauce through a fine mesh strainer (discarding what's leftover in the strainer) into the pot with the melted lard.
• After everything has been blended and strained to the pot, add the melted chocolate and broth mixture (you can blend it too, if the chocolate has not completely melted), to the pot. Add 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar, to start, then add more to taste, as needed.
• Cook the mole sauce over medium-low heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring often. If the mixture is too thick, add more chicken broth (I usually end up using all of the remaining chicken broth). Taste and add salt or sugar, as needed.
• Place chicken on a plate and ladle a big spoonful of sauce on top, then garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with Mexican rice and warm corn tortillas on the side.

SPICE-RUBBED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH MOLE, GREEN RICE, CILANTRO, LIME AND GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• For the mole sauce: Put the almonds in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the almonds to a plate.
• Increase the heat to high, add the oil to the saucepan and heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the garlic and onions and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, chipotle puree, ancho chile powder, sesame seeds, New Mexico chile powder, cinnamon, chile de arbol, allspice and cloves. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
• Add the mango, raisins, tortilla chips, molasses, honey, maple syrup and reserved almonds. Pour in the warmed chicken stock and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mangoes are soft and the mixture is reduced by half, about 50 minutes.
• Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender, let cool for 5 minutes and then blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the pan over high heat. Add the chocolate and cook until reduced to a sauce consistency, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the green rice: Add the rice and 3 cups water to a saucepan and season with salt. Bring to a boil, stir, place a lid on the pan, reduce the heat to medium and cook until all of the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes.
• Remove the rice from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Stir in the cilantro, green onions, poblanos and some salt and pepper.
• For the spice rub and pork: Remove the pork from the refrigerator 20 minutes before cooking.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Combine the ancho chile powder, brown sugar. pasilla chile powder, cinnamon, allspice, chile de arbol and 1 tablespoon salt in a small bowl.
• Season the pork with salt on both sides. Dredge the pork in the spice rub and tap off any excess. Heat the oil in a medium saute pan over high heat until it begins to shimmer. Cook, turning every few minutes to sear on all sides, until the pork is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the oven and cook to medium doneness (or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 145 degrees F), 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the tenderloin to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before slicing into 1-inch-thick slices.
• Ladle some of the mole sauce onto each plate and put 3 slices of pork on top. Put a scoop of rice on the side. Add more sauce on top, some crumbled goat cheese, a squeeze of lime and chopped cilantro.