The seven moles of Oaxaca, ranked

I. The seven

For those who do not know them: negro, rojo, coloradito, amarillo, verde, chichilo, and manchamanteles. These are Oaxaca’s seven moles. Other regions have their own moles and I do not rank those here. This is Oaxaca.

Negro is the black mole, the most complex, the one that takes the longest and asks the most. It contains upward of thirty ingredients including multiple varieties of dried chile, chocolate, several types of nut and seed, charred tortilla, charred onion, and spices that most kitchens do not stock.

Rojo, more approachable than negro. Coloradito, smaller — a mole for weekdays. Amarillo, the yellow mole, the most versatile. Verde, fresh herbs and tomatillos and pepitas. Chichilo, built on mulato and chihuacle negro chiles with avocado leaf, the least known outside Oaxaca. Manchamanteles, the sweetest, incorporating pineapple, plantain, sometimes pear.

II. The ranking

7. Coloradito. It is good. It is not great. It is a mole for Tuesday. 6. Manchamanteles. The fruit confuses people who are not expecting it and delights people who are. 5. Rojo. Solid, consistent, approachable.

4. Verde. The freshness is genuinely pleasurable and the urgency it demands gives it a quality the others lack. 3. Chichilo. Underrated everywhere except Oaxaca. The avocado leaf gives it something the other moles do not have. 2. Amarillo. The most versatile, the one I make most often. Amarillo works. It always works.

1. Negro. The negro is the most complex. That does not make it the best. It is the best anyway.

III. On the negro

Mole negro takes two days to make correctly. The chiles — mulato, chihuacle negro, chihuacle rojo, pasilla — are toasted until they are nearly black, then soaked, then blended. The aromatics are charred. The nuts and seeds are toasted separately. Oaxacan chocolate is added at the end and should not cook for long or it turns bitter.

The color is very dark, nearly black, with a surface sheen from the fat. The flavor is layered: chile heat first, then chocolate, then nuts, then something earthier from the charring, then a long complex finish that reminds you why you spent two days on this. The mole is not finished when it looks finished. It is finished when it smells the way you remember it smelling.

Recipe — Mole Negro — simplified for the home kitchen

As told by Doña Yolanda Vásquez · Oaxaca · serves 8

• 2 days traditional
• 3 hours simplified
• 30+ ingredients (long)
• 8 a la mesa

The chile base + aromatics

• Chihuacle negro chiles — 4
• Mulato chiles — 3
• Pasilla chiles — 3
• Roma tomatoes — 4 · tomatillos husked — 6
• White onion — ½ · garlic cloves — 6
• Pepitas, sesame seeds, blanched almonds — ¼ cup each
• Corn tortilla, torn and fried dark — 1
• Oaxacan chocolate tablet — 3 oz
• Mexican oregano, cumin, cloves, cinnamon — to taste
• Turkey or chicken pieces — 2 lb
• Lard, salt

The method

1. Toast each chile type separately in a dry skillet until fragrant and darkened. Soak in hot water 30 minutes. Reserve soaking liquid.
2. Char tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, garlic directly over flame or under broiler until blackened in spots.
3. Toast pepitas, sesame, almonds separately in dry skillet until golden.
4. Blend chiles with some soaking liquid until smooth. Blend charred aromatics separately. Blend nuts, seeds, and fried tortilla separately.
5. Heat lard in a heavy pot. Fry the chile blend, stirring constantly, 10 minutes. Add the tomato blend. Add the nut blend. Add spices. Cook on medium-low, stirring frequently, 45 minutes.
6. Add chocolate. Cook 15 more minutes. Season with salt. Add cooked turkey or chicken to the mole for the final 30 minutes. Rest overnight if possible before serving.

About the contributor

Doña Yolanda Vásquez

Doña Yolanda writes about Oaxacan cuisine and the seven moles from Oaxaca, México. Her kitchen has been making mole negro for three generations and counting. She has opinions. They are correct.

Editor’s notes — the longer view

A note on the chiles. The chihuacle negro is the heart of mole negro. It is rare even in Oaxaca, expensive when you can find it, and absolutely irreplaceable. If you cannot find chihuacle negro, the closest approximation is pasilla negro plus mulato in a 2:1 ratio. The result is not the same.

A note on the chocolate. Oaxacan chocolate is sold in disc-shaped tablets, ground with sugar, cinnamon, and almonds, and is meant for melting into drinks and sauces. Brands like Mayordomo and La Soledad are widely exported. Substituting baker’s chocolate plus sugar loses the cinnamon-almond depth.

A note on the occasion. Mole negro is not weeknight food. It is wedding food, baptism food, Day of the Dead food. Cook it for the occasion that deserves it.

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