Oaxacan Yellow Mole (Mole Amarillo)
Mole amarillo oaxaqueño Say it: MOH-leh ah-mah-REE-yoh
Mole amarillo is Oaxaca's lighter, brighter mole: a rust-gold sauce of toasted guajillo and costeño chiles, charred tomatoes and tomatillos, warm spices and a little masa for body. It is everyday food rather than fiesta food, ladled over chicken and simmered chayote, green beans and potato, and eaten with tortillas anywhere in the state, from home kitchens to market comedores. The taste is smoky and gently sweet, faintly tart from the tomatillos, with a soft, velvety heat.
Oaxacan Yellow Mole (Mole Amarillo)
Mole amarillo oaxaqueño
Pronounced MOH-leh ah-mah-REE-yoh
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Total
- 1 hr 25 min
- Level
- Medium
Also nut-free and egg-free.
Allergens: none of the major allergens in the listed ingredients. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
For the chicken
For the mole
For the vegetables
Method
Put the chicken in a large pot with the onion half, garlic, bay leaf, salt and water. Bring to a boil, skim the foam, then lower the heat and simmer 35-40 minutes, until the chicken is tender and the juices at the thigh run clear. Lift out the chicken, strain the broth and keep it hot.
Meanwhile, wipe the chiles, slit them open and scrape out the seeds and pale veins. Heat a comal or dry skillet over medium heat and press the chiles flat, toasting 20-30 seconds per side until fragrant and slightly pliable; do not let them darken or the mole turns bitter. Cover with hot water and soak 15 minutes.
On the same comal over medium-high heat, roast the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion half and unpeeled garlic, turning often, 8-12 minutes, until softened and charred in spots. Slip the skins off the garlic.
Toast the cloves, cinnamon and peppercorns in a dry pan for about 30 seconds until fragrant, then grind them with the cumin and oregano in a molcajete or spice grinder.
Drain the chiles and blend them with the roasted vegetables, ground spices and 1 cup (240 ml) of the broth for 2 minutes, until very smooth. Strain through a medium sieve, pressing hard on the solids, and discard the skins.
Heat the lard in a heavy pot over medium heat and pour in the sauce — it will sputter, so stand back. Cook 10-12 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce darkens slightly and thickens.
Whisk the masa harina with 1 cup (240 ml) of the hot broth until smooth, then stir it into the pot. Simmer gently 10-15 minutes, stirring, until the mole is thick enough to coat a spoon; loosen with more broth if it tightens too much.
While the mole simmers, cut the chayotes into wedges and the potatoes into 1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks. Simmer them in salted water for 8 minutes, add the green beans and cook 5 minutes more, until everything is just tender. Drain.
Add the chicken, drained vegetables and hoja santa to the mole and simmer 8-10 minutes so the flavors meld. Taste and adjust the salt, then serve hot.
Regional variants
Some cooks drop small masa dumplings called chochoyotes into the simmering mole, and along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec the same sauce is made with fish instead of chicken. Pork or turkey can replace the chicken, and zucchini stands in for chayote when it is out of season.
Cook's notes
- Toast guajillo chiles briefly and at moderate heat — a few extra seconds turns them dark and bitter, and there is no way to correct it afterward.
- Straining the blended sauce gives the smooth, velvety texture Oaxacan cooks look for; push the solids through with a ladle so nothing is wasted.
- The mole should be thick enough to coat a spoon but still pourable; keep a little hot broth on hand and loosen it just before serving, as it thickens on standing.
Serve with
Warm corn tortillas, a spoonful of black beans and a light agua fresca or cold beer.
Make ahead and storage
The mole base keeps 4 days refrigerated or 3 months frozen; reheat gently with a splash of broth, and add the cooked chicken and vegetables just before serving.
