Mole Poblano with Turkey (Mole Poblano de Guajolote)
Poached turkey under Puebla's dark, glossy mole: three dried chiles, charred vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, spices and a little Mexican chocolate, simmered for two hours.
Long before it was a Thanksgiving bird, the turkey was a Mexican one. The domestic turkey descends from the South Mexican wild turkey, and domestication is thought to have happened in central Mesoamerica at least 2,000 years ago (Wikipedia:). Ancient DNA suggests people domesticated turkeys at least twice in North America, once in Mesoamerica and once in the American Southwest (Speller and colleagues, 2010: Manin and colleagues, 2018:). Spanish ships carried the bird to Europe in the 1500s (Wikipedia), and Mexicans still call it guajolote, a word usually traced to the Nahuatl huexolotl.
Mole is older than the convent stories told about it. The word comes from the Nahuatl mōlli, a chile sauce, and Bernardino de Sahagún's 16th-century "General History of the Things of New Spain" describes mollis cooked with fish, game and vegetables, though few if any old moles contained chocolate (Wikipedia:). Puebla's favorite legend says nuns, caught short before an important visit, killed an old turkey and covered it in a sauce of chiles, nuts, spices, stale bread and a little chocolate. Who the nuns were, which convent and which guest all change from telling to telling, and the story is a legend (see Rules). Mole poblano is traditionally served with turkey, and it has been called Mexico's national dish (Wikipedia).
🇲🇽 The original
Poached turkey under Puebla's dark, glossy mole: three dried chiles, charred vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, spices and a little Mexican chocolate, simmered for two hours.
🇺🇸 The American version
America roasts the whole bird with butter and herbs, carves it at the table and serves it with stuffing and gravy: the Thanksgiving centerpiece. See the Classic Roast Thanksgiving Turkey recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Toast, soak, strain
A short toast wakes up the chiles' oils, the soak softens the tough skins so they blend smooth, and straining takes out the skins and seeds that would make the sauce gritty.
Sweet against bitter
Prunes, raisins and plantain round off the chiles' bitterness, the charred vegetables and tortillas add smoke and body, and the chocolate goes in at the end as a seasoning, not as dessert.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 300°F. Spread the dried chiles on 1 or 2 rimmed baking sheets and toast 5 minutes, until fragrant and pliable. While warm, pull off the stems, split them and shake out the loose seeds. Rinse, cover with 2 quarts boiling water and soak 20 to 30 minutes, until soft. Drain, saving the soaking liquid.
- Step 2
Purée the chiles in two batches in a blender or food processor, each batch with half the chipotle and 1 cup soaking liquid. Push the purée through a fine sieve into a large bowl, pressing hard, and throw away the skins.
- Step 3
Raise the oven to 450°F. Roast the onions, tomato, tomatillos, garlic and tortillas on a rimmed pan for 15 to 25 minutes, turning now and then, pulling each piece out when it has dark brown spots. Cool, squeeze the garlic from its skins and peel the tomato. Purée with 1 cup soaking liquid and strain into the chile purée.
- Step 4
Toast all the sesame seeds in a large dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes, until golden; set 2 tbsp aside for garnish. Add the oil, plantain, almonds, peanuts, prunes, raisins, broken cinnamon sticks, coriander and anise to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often, 7 to 10 minutes, until richly browned. Blend with the toasted sesame and the rest of the soaking liquid for several minutes, until very smooth, then strain into the bowl.
- Step 5
Pour everything into a 6 to 8 quart pot with 2 cups broth. Cover, bring to a simmer over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer 2 hours, stirring often and scraping the bottom (it spits; set the lid ajar).
- Step 6
While the mole simmers, put the turkey in a large pot, cover with cold water, add 1 tbsp salt and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Poach 35 to 45 minutes, until the thickest part reads 165°F. Let it rest 15 minutes, then slice about 1/2 inch thick, discarding the skin and bones if you like.
- Step 7
Stir the chocolate into the mole until melted. Thin with the remaining broth until it pours like heavy cream, season with salt and simmer 5 minutes more.
- Step 8
Lay the turkey on a large shallow platter, spoon about 10 cups of mole over it and scatter with the reserved sesame, cilantro and onion. Serve with lime wedges and warm tortillas.
Mole Poblano with Turkey (Mole Poblano de Guajolote)
Serves 10 · about 10 cups mole plus a platter of sliced turkey · 4 hr 30 min total
Chiles
- 1/2 lb dried mulato chiles (16 or 17)
- 1/4 lb dried ancho chiles (about 7)
- 2 oz dried pasilla chiles (3 or 4)
- 2 tsp minced canned chipotle chile
Charred vegetables
- 2 large yellow onions, peeled and quartered
- 1 medium tomato
- 1/2 lb tomatillos, husked and rinsed
- 1 medium head garlic, halved crosswise
- 2 corn tortillas (6 inch)
Nuts, seeds, fruit and spices
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds, plus 2 tbsp for garnish
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 small, very ripe plantain (black skin), peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted almonds
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
- 1/2 cup chopped pitted prunes
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 2 cinnamon sticks (2 1/2 inches each)
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp anise seeds
To finish
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
- 1 tablet (3 1/2 oz) Mexican chocolate, chopped
- Kosher salt
Turkey and serving
- 2 bone-in, skin-on turkey breast halves (5 to 6 lb total)
- 1 tbsp kosher salt, for the poaching water
- Cilantro sprigs, chopped white onion, lime wedges and warm corn tortillas
Method
- Heat the oven to 300°F. Spread the dried chiles on 1 or 2 rimmed baking sheets and toast 5 minutes, until fragrant and pliable. While warm, pull off the stems, split them and shake out the loose seeds. Rinse, cover with 2 quarts boiling water and soak 20 to 30 minutes, until soft. Drain, saving the soaking liquid.
- Purée the chiles in two batches in a blender or food processor, each batch with half the chipotle and 1 cup soaking liquid. Push the purée through a fine sieve into a large bowl, pressing hard, and throw away the skins.
- Raise the oven to 450°F. Roast the onions, tomato, tomatillos, garlic and tortillas on a rimmed pan for 15 to 25 minutes, turning now and then, pulling each piece out when it has dark brown spots. Cool, squeeze the garlic from its skins and peel the tomato. Purée with 1 cup soaking liquid and strain into the chile purée.
- Toast all the sesame seeds in a large dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes, until golden; set 2 tbsp aside for garnish. Add the oil, plantain, almonds, peanuts, prunes, raisins, broken cinnamon sticks, coriander and anise to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often, 7 to 10 minutes, until richly browned. Blend with the toasted sesame and the rest of the soaking liquid for several minutes, until very smooth, then strain into the bowl.
- Pour everything into a 6 to 8 quart pot with 2 cups broth. Cover, bring to a simmer over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer 2 hours, stirring often and scraping the bottom (it spits; set the lid ajar).
- While the mole simmers, put the turkey in a large pot, cover with cold water, add 1 tbsp salt and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Poach 35 to 45 minutes, until the thickest part reads 165°F. Let it rest 15 minutes, then slice about 1/2 inch thick, discarding the skin and bones if you like.
- Stir the chocolate into the mole until melted. Thin with the remaining broth until it pours like heavy cream, season with salt and simmer 5 minutes more.
- Lay the turkey on a large shallow platter, spoon about 10 cups of mole over it and scatter with the reserved sesame, cilantro and onion. Serve with lime wedges and warm tortillas.
Adapted from "Turkey Mole Poblano," the Morales family of Puebla's recipe as published by Sunset (brought back from Puebla by Sunset writer Betsy Reynolds Bateson in the early 1990s). Sunset poaches 2 bone-in, skin-on turkey breast halves (5 to 6 lb total) in salted water to 165°F, about 35 to 40 minutes; we keep that and add a 15 minute rest. Sunset gives no amount of salt for the poaching water, so 1 tbsp kosher salt is ours, and we roast the 2 tbsp of garnish sesame with the rest. Everything else follows Sunset's amounts and order. Sunset. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Sunset says the mole, through step 7, keeps up to 4 days in the refrigerator; reheat it to a simmer, stirring often. It tastes better the next day.
- Mulato and ancho chiles are both dried poblanos of slightly different kinds, and Sunset warns that the labels get mixed up. Pasillas are the long, skinny ones.
- Extra mole is wonderful on enchiladas or eggs. Cool it and refrigerate within 2 hours.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Nuns in a Puebla convent invented mole poblano for a visiting VIP. Disputed: Wikipedia gives several versions (nuns of a Santa Clara convent cooking for an archbishop; a friar called Pascual; a viceroy instead of an archbishop), and popular tellings name Sor Andrea de la Asunción of the Santa Rosa convent around the 1680s. Chef and food historian Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, quoted by Grupo Animal, calls these legends.
- Mole has pre-Hispanic roots. Documented: the Nahuatl word mōlli and Sahagún's descriptions of mollis with fish, game and vegetables (Wikipedia:).
- The Aztecs put chocolate in their mole. Folklore: Wikipedia says few if any pre-Hispanic moles contained chocolate, and Sahagún does not mention chocolate as a flavoring for dishes.
- Mole poblano goes with turkey. Documented: traditionally turkey, though chicken and pork are common (Wikipedia).
- Turkeys were first domesticated in Mexico. Documented for Mesoamerica (Wikipedia:), with a second, separate domestication in the American Southwest (Speller 2010); the exact timing is still argued.
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