In the kitchen · 7 min read
Mole negro: 34 ingredients, explained one by one
Head Chef, Las Ficheras
14 years in Mexico City and Lisbon kitchens
Published 2 July 2026 · Reviewed by the kitchen
The chiles
Chilhuacle negro, mulato, pasilla, ancho. Toasted almost to the point of burning - that controlled bitterness is the backbone of a true negro.
The seeds and nuts
Sesame, almond, pumpkin seed, peanut. They thicken and round the sauce; without them mole is thin and sharp.
The sweet and the sour
Plantain, raisin, tomato, tomatillo. Fruit sugar tempers the chile without making the sauce dessert-sweet.
The spice and the finish
Clove, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, thyme, oregano, and a small amount of dark chocolate at the very end. The chocolate is a rounding agent, not a flavour you should taste.
Mole is not a recipe so much as a balancing act between five groups of ingredients. Lose one group and the whole thing collapses.