Enmoladas with Mole Coloradito (Mole Chicken Enchiladas)
Corn tortillas dipped in a brick-red Oaxacan mole of ancho chiles, roasted tomatoes, sesame, almonds, raisins, spices and Mexican chocolate, rolled around shredded chicken and sauced at the table.
Mole comes from the Nahuatl mōlli, "sauce" or "something ground", and Wikipedia says leftover mole is often used for tamales and for enchiladas that are "often called enmolada"). Oaxaca is called "the land of the seven moles", though the list is not fixed: Wikipedia names amarillo, chichilo, colorado, estofado, manchamantel, negro, rojo and verde, and notes that some cooks, such as Susana Trilling, question whether manchamantel is a true mole.
The best-known mole legend belongs to Puebla: nuns at a convent, preparing for a visiting archbishop or viceroy, grind chiles, nuts, spices, bread and a little chocolate into a sauce for turkey. Wikipedia tells it and its variants as legends and says there is not enough evidence to settle where mole began. This recipe is Rick Bayless's mole coloradito, the "little red" mole, from season 9 of his public television show Mexico: One Plate at a Time. It is the longest cook in the hub, and the reason enmoladas are a celebration dish.
Why it works the kitchen science
Frying the purées
Mole tastes like mole only after its chile paste is fried in oil until thick and dark, which toasts the chiles and spices; a simply simmered purée stays raw and bitter.
Balance, not sweetness
Chocolate, raisins and a little sugar round off the ancho's bitterness, while sesame, almonds and bread give the sauce body without any cream.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Press the chile pieces flat in a single layer about 15 seconds per side, until they change color and smell toasty. Cover with hot tap water, weight with a plate and soak 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, broil the tomatoes on a baking sheet 4 inches below a hot broiler about 10 minutes, turning, until blackened all over. In the dry skillet over medium heat, roast three-quarters of the onion about 8 minutes and the garlic about 15 minutes, turning, until soft and blackened in spots. Set the rest of the onion aside raw for garnish.
- Step 3
Add 1 tbsp oil to the skillet over medium heat and stir the sesame seeds constantly about 2 minutes, until browned. Put them in a large bowl with the drained chiles (save the soaking water), oregano, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, raisins and almonds. Blend in two batches with just enough soaking water to cover, on high until very smooth, and press through a medium-mesh strainer.
- Step 4
Peel the tomatoes and garlic. Blend the tomatoes and their juices with the garlic and roasted onion until smooth. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the cleaned skillet over medium-high heat and fry this purée, stirring almost constantly, 10 to 15 minutes, until thick.
- Step 5
Heat the last 2 tbsp oil in a heavy 6- to 9-quart pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add the chile purée (it spatters) and stir constantly about 20 minutes, until very thick and dark. Stir in the tomato mixture, breadcrumbs, chocolate and broth until the chocolate melts, then simmer over medium-low heat 30 minutes. Season with about 1 tbsp sugar and 1 1/2 tsp salt; blend until silky if you like.
- Step 6
Heat the oven to 350°F. Brush the tortillas lightly with oil on both sides, stack them in pairs on a baking sheet and bake about 3 minutes, until pliable; keep them under a towel. Warm the chicken, covered, in the microwave 1 to 2 minutes, to 165°F.
- Step 7
Plate by plate: dip a tortilla's edge into the hot mole to coat most of it, fill with a heaping 2 tbsp chicken, roll it and set it on a dinner plate. Make 3 per plate, pour about 1/4 cup hot mole over them, garnish with raw onion slices and parsley and serve at once.
Enmoladas with Mole Coloradito (Mole Chicken Enchiladas)
Serves 6 · 18 enmoladas plus extra mole · 2 hr 30 min total
Mole
- 8 oz (about 16) dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into large flat pieces
- 1 lb ripe tomatoes (4 medium round or 6 plum)
- 1 large onion, cut into 1/8-inch slices (divided)
- 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, preferably Mexican canela
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 8 whole blanched almonds
- 3 tbsp dry breadcrumbs
- 2 tablets (6 oz total) Mexican chocolate, roughly chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth
- About 1 tbsp sugar and 1 1/2 tsp salt
Enmoladas
- 18 corn tortillas
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil, for the tortillas
- Meat from 1 rotisserie chicken (about 2 generous cups), lightly shredded
- Sprigs from 1 small bunch parsley
Method
- Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Press the chile pieces flat in a single layer about 15 seconds per side, until they change color and smell toasty. Cover with hot tap water, weight with a plate and soak 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, broil the tomatoes on a baking sheet 4 inches below a hot broiler about 10 minutes, turning, until blackened all over. In the dry skillet over medium heat, roast three-quarters of the onion about 8 minutes and the garlic about 15 minutes, turning, until soft and blackened in spots. Set the rest of the onion aside raw for garnish.
- Add 1 tbsp oil to the skillet over medium heat and stir the sesame seeds constantly about 2 minutes, until browned. Put them in a large bowl with the drained chiles (save the soaking water), oregano, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, raisins and almonds. Blend in two batches with just enough soaking water to cover, on high until very smooth, and press through a medium-mesh strainer.
- Peel the tomatoes and garlic. Blend the tomatoes and their juices with the garlic and roasted onion until smooth. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the cleaned skillet over medium-high heat and fry this purée, stirring almost constantly, 10 to 15 minutes, until thick.
- Heat the last 2 tbsp oil in a heavy 6- to 9-quart pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add the chile purée (it spatters) and stir constantly about 20 minutes, until very thick and dark. Stir in the tomato mixture, breadcrumbs, chocolate and broth until the chocolate melts, then simmer over medium-low heat 30 minutes. Season with about 1 tbsp sugar and 1 1/2 tsp salt; blend until silky if you like.
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Brush the tortillas lightly with oil on both sides, stack them in pairs on a baking sheet and bake about 3 minutes, until pliable; keep them under a towel. Warm the chicken, covered, in the microwave 1 to 2 minutes, to 165°F.
- Plate by plate: dip a tortilla's edge into the hot mole to coat most of it, fill with a heaping 2 tbsp chicken, roll it and set it on a dinner plate. Make 3 per plate, pour about 1/4 cup hot mole over them, garnish with raw onion slices and parsley and serve at once.
Adapted from Rick Bayless, "Mole Coloradito Enchiladas (Enchiladas de Mole Coloradito)", serves 6. We follow its amounts (8 oz anchos, 1 lb tomatoes, sesame, almonds, raisins, 2 tablets of Mexican chocolate, 4 cups broth, 18 tortillas, a rotisserie chicken) and its times: chiles toasted 15 seconds a side and soaked 30 minutes, tomatoes broiled 10 minutes, onion roasted 8 and garlic 15, sesame toasted 2, tomato purée fried 10 to 15, chile purée fried 20 and the mole simmered 30. Bayless softens the tortillas in the oven for 3 minutes without a temperature; our 350°F, warming the chicken and the 165°F check are ours. rickbayless.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Make the mole a day ahead and refrigerate it; the enmoladas then take about 15 minutes.
- Watch the chile toast: burned anchos make the whole pot bitter. Pull them when they smell toasty, before they smoke.
- Add a splash of broth if the mole gets too thick on reheating; it should coat a spoon like heavy cream.
- Sanborns, the Mexico City restaurant of enchiladas suizas fame, also lists enchiladas de mole on its menu.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Nuns in Puebla invented mole. Folklore: Wikipedia tells the convent story and its variants as legends and says the evidence is not there.
- Mole must have chocolate. Disputed: this one does; Wikipedia says few pre-Hispanic moles contained chocolate and that it was a later addition, and many moles (verde, amarillo) have none.
- Oaxaca has exactly seven moles. Disputed: Wikipedia lists eight names, and cooks argue over manchamantel.
- Enmoladas are a way to use leftover mole. Documented as Wikipedia's account.
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