Clemole

The plain one, thickened by nothing but its own tomato — no seeds, no nuts, no bread, no chocolate.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains lard, pork.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pork shoulder, in 4 cm chunks
• 5 ancho chillies, stalks and seeds removed
• 3 guajillo chillies, stalks and seeds removed
• 800 g ripe tomatoes
• 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons lard
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 400 g potatoes, in large chunks
• corn tortillas, as on their own page, to serve

Method

1. IT IS THICKENED BY NOTHING BUT ITS OWN TOMATO. No ground seeds, no nuts, no bread, no fried tortilla, no chocolate -- none of the apparatus the other moles on this site depend on. Eight hundred grams of tomato goes in and is cooked down until the water has left it, and what remains is the body of the sauce. That means the only route to a thick clemole is time on the heat, and there is no shortcut: a loose clemole is one that was taken off too early, and adding anything to thicken it makes it a different dish.
2. THERE IS A LOT OF TOMATO AND THAT IS NOT A MISPRINT. Eight hundred grams for six. In a sauce with no other thickener the tomato has to be both the flavour and the structure, and half that quantity gives a thin chilli gravy however long it is reduced.
3. THE PORK IS BROWNED FIRST AND THE SAUCE IS BUILT IN THE SAME PAN. This is the only mole here that browns its meat, and it is because there is nothing else contributing depth. The fond left on the base after the pork comes out is scraped up into the blended sauce, and it is doing the work that toasted seeds do elsewhere.
4. ONLY TWO KINDS OF CHILLI AND BOTH ARE MILD. Ancho for sweetness and body, guajillo for colour and a little edge. A clemole is not a hot dish, and a third or fourth chilli starts it down the road to being a poblano without any of the things that make one work.
5. THE POTATOES GO IN FOR THE LAST HALF HOUR AND THICKEN IT FURTHER. They give up starch into a sauce that has no other starch, which is the one small help the dish allows itself. Added at the start they disintegrate completely and the sauce goes claggy.
6. The chillies toasted on a dry pan 30 SECONDS a side, soaked in hot water 20 minutes and DRAINED, the water discarded.
7. The tomatoes, unpeeled garlic and onion charred on a dry griddle 12 to 15 minutes until blackened in patches. The garlic peeled.
8. The lard melted in a heavy pot over a high heat and the pork browned all over in two batches. Lifted out.
9. The soaked chillies, charred tomatoes, garlic, onion and oregano blended until smooth.
10. Poured into the hot pot and the base SCRAPED to lift the fond from browning the pork.
11. Cooked 15 MINUTES over a medium heat, stirred, until darkened and beginning to thicken.
12. The pork returned with the bay leaves and 400 ml of water. Brought to a simmer.
13. Covered and simmered 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES.
14. The potatoes added and simmered UNCOVERED a further 30 MINUTES, so the sauce reduces.
15. Cooked on until a spoon leaves a trail and the sauce coats the pork. Nothing is added to thicken it.
16. The bay removed, tasted and salted. Served with tortillas.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes