Coconut Milk Mole

Labor intensive, allow yourself a day to make this sauce.



Makes about 1 liters worth of mole sauce

Ingredients:

6 dried red chiles (guajillo or similar), seeded and rinsed

3 dried ancho chiles, seeded and rinsed

9 dried chile de arbol chiles, seeded and rinsed

2 cans coconut milk (400 ml each)

6 cloves garlic, minced

Yellow Onion, half of one, diced

Shelled pecans, 200 grams

Vegetable oil, or high heat oil, 150 ml

Ground cardamom, 1 tbsp

Ground oregano, 1/2 tbsp

Ground Smoked paprika, 1 tbsp

Ground cinnamon, 5 tbsp

Ground cloves, 2 tbsp

Unsweetened cocoa powder, 8 tbsp

Dark honey, 100 ml

Sea salt, 1/2 tbsp

In a large bowl, add all the dried chiles. Pour the coconut milk in the bowl in order to cover the chiles. Allow this to soak for half a day or overnight on the counter away from direct heat or sun. Once soaked, blend the mixture in a blender until everything is smooth and has no tiny clumps at all. Set this mixture aside but still leave in blender.

In a non-stick fry pan, toast the pecans on medium heat. Mix around frequently. Don't burn the pecans, just toast them nice enough to be able to smell the oils and give the nuts a bit of a crisp outer texture, takes about 10 minutes depending on heat and pan. Once toasted, set aside.

In a large saucepan, fry the garlic and onions in a little bit of oil. Once onions have become semi translucent, you're ready to add the spices. Add about 150 ml more oil to the pan and bring to medium heat. Add the cardamom, oregano, smoked paprika, cinnamon, cloves, and cocoa powder to the saucepan and continue to mix until the spices become a bit more cooked. It will look like a clumpy mess at first with all the cocoa powder, but continue to mix and add a bit more oil if needed to make it a bit smoother (remembering that the big chunks are the onion and garlic).

Once the spice mixture is fragrant, add the toasted pecans and continue to cook for about 2 minutes just to mix the pecans in and coat them well. Do not burn anything, and turn off the heat.

Add the spices and pecan mixture to the blender and blend. The mixture should still be quite thick, but feel free to add oil (not water) little by little if the mixture is not blending smoothly in the blender. Think of the consistency of a super thick smoothie that looks like it will almost stick to the cup if you flipped it over.

Once smooth in the blender, pour the mixture into a large saucepan and raise heat to medium. Add dark honey and sea salt and stir slowly but continuously. Once mixture has heated up, lower heat, and continue to stir slowly but without stopping and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Place this mixture from the saucepan into a large glass bowl, and allow to cool down on the counter away from direct sunlight. Once the mixture is cool, cover the large bowl, and place it in the fridge for at least overnight. On the next day, the mole is ready to use. You can also save the sauce in sealed glass jars for a few weeks, or freeze whatever you have left to be preserved for a long time. The mole will only taste better with time, so each day becomes more and more delicious.



You can use this sauce to cook sweet potatoes or yams (my favorite way to use it). In a large pot, cook about 2 large yams in a tiny bit of water until they are soft but not cooked all the way through. Add about 400 ml (1 and 1/2 cups about) of the mole sauce to the pot and add a bit more water as needed. You want the mole to be really thick and creamy, not watery at all, but play around with ratios that suit your taste. Stir the yams and mole to mix everything. Cover and cook on low heat for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. The lower the heat and the longer the cook time, the more time the mole has to mesh with whatever it is cooking, and the flavor tastes way better.

Enjoy!