Mayan Mole Recado

Mole recado is a chile paste, not a mole sauce. Ancho and pasilla chiles are toasted and soaked, then ground with black pepper, cinnamon, clove, sesame seed and garlic and loosened with bitter orange or lime juice. It sits between the Mexican mole tradition and the Belizean recado pastes, and it is used the way a recado is used: rubbed on meat or stirred into a pot. It is one of several pastes set out in our guide to Belizean recado.

Mole Recado Recipe Ingredients

• 2 Ancho chiles (about 30 grams)
• 3 Pasilla chiles (about 45 grams)
• 1 tbsp. black pepper (about 15 grams)
• 1 small piece of cinnamon stick (about 3 cm long)
• 3 whole cloves (about 1 gram)
• Half tbsp. sesame seeds (about 4.5 grams)
• 3 garlic cloves (about 15 grams)
• Bitter orange or lime juice (enough to form a thick paste, approximately 50-100 ml)

Mole Recado Recipe Instructions

Prepare the Chiles

1. Toast the ancho and pasilla chiles in a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat until they begin to puff up. Remove from heat, allow them to cool, then deseed and soak them in hot water until they are soft.

Toast the Spices

1. In the same skillet, lightly toast the black pepper, cloves, and sesame seeds until fragrant, careful not to burn them.

Make the Paste

1. In a blender, hand-cranked spice grinder, or mortar and pestle, combine the softened chiles, toasted spices, cinnamon sticks, and garlic cloves. Pulse or grind until the ingredients start to blend.
2. Slowly add bitter orange juice or lime juice, continuing to blend until the mixture achieves a thick paste consistency.

Mole Recado Serving Suggestions:

• Use this Mole Recado as a marinade for meats or a flavorful addition to stews and sauces.
• It pairs particularly well with poultry and pork, enhancing the dishes’ deep, complex flavor profile.

Storage:

• Store any leftover recado in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze for extended storage.

Mole recado is one of several pastes used across Belizean and Mayan cooking. The others are black recado, built on burnt tortillas, red recado, built on annatto, and recado blanco, the pale peppery one. Each goes into different dishes.

Equipment

A dry cast iron skillet or comal for toasting. The chiles want to puff and the spices want to smell toasted, and both turn bitter within seconds of going too far, so keep them moving.

A blender, a hand-cranked spice grinder or a mortar and pestle. Soaked chiles are wet and fibrous, so a blender is the easiest route to a smooth paste and a molcajete gives a coarser, better one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is mole recado the same as Mexican mole?

No. Mexican mole is a finished sauce, often long-cooked and carrying nuts, seeds and sometimes chocolate. Mole recado is a raw seasoning paste you rub on meat or stir into a pot. There is no chocolate in it and it is not a sauce on its own.

What is the difference between mole recado and chilmole?

Both are chile-based pastes and they are not interchangeable. Chilmole, or black recado, gets its colour and its bitter smoke from burnt corn tortillas. Mole recado is built on toasted ancho and pasilla chiles with sesame seed, and it comes out red-brown rather than black.

What does mole recado taste like?

Deep and raisiny from the ancho, a little sharper from the pasilla, with sesame and cinnamon behind. Mild rather than hot: neither ancho nor pasilla brings much heat, and the citrus keeps it from sitting heavy.

Can I use different chiles?

Ancho and pasilla are the pairing this recipe is built on and they do different jobs, the ancho sweet and raisiny, the pasilla darker. Guajillo can stand in for the pasilla and will make it brighter. Chipotle will make it smoky, which is a different paste.

Why toast the chiles before soaking them?

Toasting wakes the oils and takes the flat, papery edge off dried chile. Soaking afterwards softens them enough to grind. Doing only one of the two gives you either a harsh paste or a dull one.

How long does mole recado keep?

Five days refrigerated in an airtight container. It is a wet paste with fresh garlic and citrus in it, so it does not keep like the dry blends. It freezes for three months, and freezing it in tablespoon portions saves breaking up a block later.

What do I cook with it?

Use it as a marinade for meats or as an addition to stews and sauces. It pairs particularly well with poultry and pork. A tablespoon per pound of meat is the usual measure across the recado family.

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