Mexican Black Mole Rub Recipe


 

Mark Barton

TVWBB Super Fan
The other day I was in the mood for some shredded beef tacos. I spent quite a while searching for a Mexican Rub recipe, but nothing caught my eye. So I decided to make my own!

I've always liked the spicy earthiness of Black Mole, and decided that would be perfect for my beef tacos. You can see the cook here. Since Mole is traditionally a sauce, I kind of improvised a dry rub using Susanna Trilling's black mole sauce as an inspiration. I also made good use of the book, The Flavor Bible, by Karen Page.

The rub recipe is listed below. It loosely follows the 1-1-1-1 formula. This rub turned out REALLY good, but could probably use a little less onion powder and a little more cocoa powder. It's a work in progress, so if you try it out and have any suggestions for improvement, please feel free to post your own variation. If you use this on chicken or pork (or if you like sweet beef) ADD 4 parts of brown sugar.

When I made the rub I used teaspoons as a base measurement, but I converted this into parts so you can make as much or as little as you please.

Mexican Black Mole Rub
4 parts kosher salt
3 parts paprika
3 parts cocoa powder
2 parts ground ancho chile (sometimes labeled, "pasilla')
2 parts ground guajillo chile
2 parts ground chile negro (sometimes labeled, "black chile" or "pasilla negro")
2 parts ground New Mexico chile
2 parts ground cumin
1 part white sugar
1 part garlic powder, granulated type is preferred
1 part onion powder
1 part dry oregano, crushed
1 part ground thyme
1 part cinnamon
1/2 part ground clove

Optional
  • Add 4 parts brown sugar if you are using this for chicken or pork. I left it out of the taco recipe because I'm not big on sweet beef.
  • Add 1 part ground chipotle meco (sometimes labeled, "chipotle tipico") These are the unappetizing looking grayish-brown smoked jalapenos. These are quite hot, so if you want more heat try adding these. By the way, be careful when grinding them. I accidentally breathed in chipotle some dust and it was quite an experience!
  • Add 2 parts almond meal. This is authentic to mole and will give the rub a more earthy flavor. But be careful to only cook at lower temps so the almond meal doesn't burn.

If you can't find the specific chiles at the grocery store, try looking for a Mexican or Asian market in your area. Barring that, you could order them online. You could also substitute other types dried chiles, just make sure they are not too hot!

Thanks for looking. Feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions for improvement.
 

 

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