Shredded chicken mole tortillas

With rich chicken mole, spicy grilled corn sauce and homemade tortillas, these are insanely good. Mole is an amazing sauce, prized for its complexity, sweet, smoky, earthiness and spiciness, and a lot of it can be done on the grill, giving it some supercharged flavour.

Shredded mole chicken tortillas. Credit: Fun'Q with Spencer Watts

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1:25 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Chicken spice mix

• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp salt

Chicken mole

• 6 chicken thighs, skin on bone in
• 4 roma tomatoes, quartered
• 1 jalapeno
• 3 tomatillos, papery covering removed, cut in half
• 1 white onion, cut in half
• 1-2 shallots, cut in half (use 2 if small)
• 1-2 tbsp oil
• 2 dried ancho chillies
• 1 dried chipotle chilli, rehydrated in water
• 1½ tbsp peanuts
• 1 scant tbsp raisins
• 175 g (6 oz) Mexican cooking chocolate (or use dark chocolate)
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• ¼ tsp all spice
• 2 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp salt

Tortillas

• 2 cups masa flour
• 1½ cups water

Corn sauce

• 2 cobs (ears) corn
• 115 g (½ cup) butter
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp lime juice
• ¼ tsp salt

 

Coriander condiment

• ½ cup fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
• ½ cup diced onion

Instructions

1. In a small bowl combine cumin, smoked paprika, chilli powder and salt. Then season the chicken with the rub and ensure that they are well covered.
2. To make the tortillas (this can also be done while the chicken is cooking in the masa sauce, see below), place masa flour in a large bowl, then add water. Mix with your hands until you have a dough. Once it is fully incorporated, separate the dough into small 2.5 cm (1 inch) balls. Place on the tortilla press and press (see Note). Cover with parchment between each tortilla and keep cool until ready to use.
3. Preheat the barbecue grill to high heat, and the flat side to medium-high.
4. Oil the grill and add the chicken to the flat side. Cook for about 20 minutes until the juices are running clean and the meat is full cooked. Meanwhile, place the tomatoes, jalapeños, tomatillos, white onion and shallot into a bowl. Drizzle with oil and season with salt. Place on the grill to char for 2 minutes a side.
5. Remove the grilled vegetables and add to a blender. Add rehydrated chipotle chillies and dried ancho chilli. Then add peanuts, raisins, Mexican cooking chocolate (or dark chocolate), garlic, all spice, cumin and salt and then blend until a puree. Add mixture to a pot or cast-iron pan over medium low heat and simmer. Remove the chicken from the grill and add to mole sauce. Tent with foil and let the chicken sit in mole on the grill for 1 hour.
6. Drizzle some husked corn with oil and add to the grill then char for 2 minutes per side. Place butter into a pot to melt on the grill. Once charred, remove the corn from the grill, and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then with a sharp knife cut the kernels into a bowl. Add smoked paprika, lime juice, salt and melted butter.
7. Remove the chicken from the grill and shred the meat into the pan. Place the tortillas onto the grill to char slightly on both sides. Combine the onion and coriander in a bowl.
8. Fill the tortillas with shredded chicken in mole sauce. Top with the tacos with corn sauce and onion and coriander mixture.

Note

Spencer uses two pre-cut circles of plastic, one above and one below the dough, when using the tortilla press.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.