The most profound and complex sauce in Mexican cuisine, originating from Oaxaca. Mole Negro is built on a foundation of charred chilhuacle negro, mulato, and pasilla chilies that are blackened until nearly carbonized, lending the sauce its characteristic inky darkness. This deliberate charring creates bitter polycyclic compounds that marry with roasted chocolate, plantain, and over twenty spices into a sauce of extraordinary depth and geological complexity.
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Char the chilies directly over an open flame until the skins are blackened and nearly completely carbonized - this controlled burning is intentional and defines Mole Negro from all other moles. Soak in hot water for 30 minutes , then drain, reserving liquid.
Toast all nuts, seeds, and whole spices (cinnamon stick, cumin, black pepper, cloves, thyme) individually in a dry comal until fragrant. Set aside.
Char the onion half and garlic directly on the comal until blackened on all sides. the plantain in oil until deeply golden. a stale tortilla until dark.
Blend the rehydrated blackened chilies, charred vegetables, plantain, toasted nuts and spices, and tortilla with enough chicken broth to form an extremely thick, almost black paste.
Heat lard or oil in a heavy cazuela until . Add the mole paste all at once - it will spit and roar. the paste, stirring constantly, for 20 minutes until it darkens further and releases its oils.
Gradually whisk in remaining chicken broth. Add the broken chocolate. over lowest heat for 2 to 3 hours , stirring frequently, until the mole is glossy, thick, and perfectly unified. Serve over chicken pieces.
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