Mexican · Puebla · main

Mole Poblano de Guajolote

Mole Poblano de Guajolote reads umami 5.8, richness 5.6 and sweetness 4.7 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Mexican · Puebla main, about 4 hr 22 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.1 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 5.7 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 3.2 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 3.7 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 6.8 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.0 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 5.8 · Richness 5.6 · Sweetness 4.7 · Nutty 4.0 · Fruity 3.4 · Warm Spice 3.3 · Allium 3.1 · Smoke 3.0 · Earthy 2.8 · Heat 2.7 · Sourness 2.7 · Floral 2.2 · Salinity 2.1 · Citrus 1.7 · Bitterness 1.6 · Herbaceous 1.5

What's in it (24)

• turkey meat — 2500 g
• mulato chiles — 120 g
• ancho chiles — 70 g
• pasilla chiles — 60 g
• chipotle chile — 12 g
• blanched almonds — 60 g
• peanuts — 40 g
• raisins — 50 g
• sesame seeds — 60 g
• plantain — 200 g
• corn tortilla — 100 g
• bolillo roll — 25 g
• tomatoes — 300 g
• tomatillo — 150 g
• white onion — 200 g
• garlic — 18 g
• canela — 2 g
• cloves — 12 g
• black peppercorns — 600 g
• anise seed — 3 g
• coriander seed — 3 g
• mexican chocolate in tablilla — 90 g
• pork lard — 180 g
• turkey broth — 2000 g

Time & effort: about 4 hr 22 min (3 hr 52 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 164.4 kcal, 16.5 g protein, 7.2 g fat, 10.3 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

1. Four chiles, and each of them is doing a different job: mulato for the dark sweetness, ancho for body, pasilla for the raisiny bass note, mora for smoke. Substituting chili powder for any of them produces a different dish entirely.
2. Simmer the turkey in the stock 50 minutes until tender, then lift it out and keep the broth.
3. Tear the chiles flat and toast them on a dry comal over medium heat, 25 seconds a side. Press them with a spatula until they crackle and smell sweet and toasty. If any goes past dark brown to black, discard it — one burnt chile will make eight litres of mole bitter.
4. Soak them in hot water 30 minutes. In the same dry pan toast the almonds, peanuts, raisins, sesame and all the whole spices until fragrant, 6 minutes, then fry the plantain, tortilla and bread in a little of the lard until deep gold.
5. Char the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic on the comal until soft and blackened in patches, 12 minutes.
6. Blend everything in batches with broth and press it through a medium sieve. Heat the rest of the lard in a wide cazuela until it just begins to smoke, add the paste all at once and stand back, then fry it, stirring almost without pause, 25 minutes, until it darkens two full shades, thickens to a paste that holds the trail of the spoon, and the fat starts to pool at the edges. This is the single step that separates a good mole from a raw-tasting one.
7. Thin with the broth, add the chocolate and sugar, and simmer at the lowest blip for 90 minutes, stirring often. Season, return the turkey for 20 minutes, and scatter the toasted sesame over at the table.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Mole Poblano — Mexican
• Mole Negro Oaxaqueño con Guajolote — Mexican · Oaxaca
• Mole Coloradito con Pollo — Mexican · Oaxaca
• Chiles Rellenos de Picadillo Capeados — Mexican
• Middle Eastern Cinnamon-Spiced Beef and Rice Stuffed Peppers — Middle Eastern

Keep reading: what umami, richness, sweetness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.