Recipes

Pork with Mole Negro Sauce

  • Serves

    serves 6

ANDR¿ BARANOWSKI

You should be able to find the ingredients for this Oaxacan dish (from Chicago's Topolobampo) at most Mexican groceries.

Ingredients

For the Pork

  • 3 canned chipotles in adobo, 3 tbsp. adobo sauce reserved
  • 12 cup corn oil
  • 12 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. ancho chile powder
  • 1 tbsp. dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp. honey
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 3 lb. pork loin, trimmed

For the Mole

  • 1 large tomatillo, stemmed, rinsed, and quartered
  • 1 small tomato, cored and halved
  • 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup corn oil
  • 6 dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 12 ripe plantain or banana, cut into 1⁄2" cubes
  • 14 cup peanuts, plus more crushed for garnish
  • 14 cup sesame seeds
  • 14 cup raisins
  • 2 12 cups chicken broth
  • 2 oz. Mexican chocolate, chopped
  • 1 12 tsp. oregano
  • 12 tsp. ground canela or cinnamon
  • 1 slice white sandwich bread, toasted and crumbled
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Grated piloncillo or brown sugar, to taste
  • 6 sprigs cilantro, for garnish

Instructions

Step 1

Marinate the pork: In a blender, purée the chipotles with their reserved sauce, oil, vinegar, chile powder, oregano, honey, and garlic until smooth and season with salt and pepper. Put pork into a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag and pour sauce over pork. Refrigerate overnight.

Step 2

Make the mole: Heat oven to broil and position a rack 10" from the heating element. Toss tomatillos, tomatoes, and onions with 2 tbsp. oil in a bowl and transfer to an aluminum foil–lined baking sheet; broil, turning once with tongs, until soft and well browned, about 15 minutes. Transfer charred vegetables to a large bowl; set aside. Heat oven to 400˚. Transfer chiles to the aluminum foil–lined baking sheet and toast, turning once, until dark and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer toasted chiles to large bowl and cover with 3 cups boiling water; set aside to let soften for 15 minutes. Drain chiles, reserving 1⁄2 cup soaking liquid; set aside.

Step 3

Heat 3⁄4 cup oil in a 3-qt. high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add plantains (or bananas) and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, 2 minutes. Add peanuts and sesame seeds and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, 3 minutes. Add the raisins, the tomatillo mixture, and the chiles with the reserved soaking liquid, along with the chicken broth, chocolate, oregano, canela, and bread; bring the mixture to a boil and remove from heat. Working in batches, purée the chile mixture in a blender to make a smooth mole.

Step 4

Heat remaining oil in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mole and cook, whisking frequently, until it thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and piloncillo; set mole aside and keep warm.

Step 5

Meanwhile, heat oven to 400˚. Remove pork from adobo, season lightly with salt, and transfer to a rack set in a roasting pan. Discard adobo. Cook the pork, flipping once, until browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of pork reads 150˚, about 45 minutes. Transfer pork to a platter; let rest for 10 minutes. Slice pork into 1⁄2"-thick medallions. Divide mole between 6 plates. Arrange pork over mole and garnish with peanuts and cilantro.

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