Mole sauce or simply mole is a popular Mexican food dish. People might be skeptical of this dish in the start but soon fall in love with it. What is it made of? Is it healthy? Know it’s nutrition values.
Mole sauce: history and ingredients
Mole sauce or mole is a traditional sauce cum marinade that is used commonly in Mexican cuisine. It is an iconic sauce of the region of Oaxaca and Puebla of Mexico. The authentic sauce is Mole Poblano in which the ingredients are chilli peppers and bitter cocoa.
Mole sauce (Source: Closet Cooking)It was a nun at the Santa Rosa convent in Puebla, Mexico who gets the credit for this invention. This was somewhere in the seventeenth century. There are several versions of this sauce. Usual ingredients are chocolate, chillis, fruits and spices. Some versions also contain dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and tomatillos. And the ingredients used vary in number from thirty to hundred. Mole negro has nearly 100 ingredients in it. And it has a layered and complex flavor that is difficult to describe.
Traditional making of this sauce involves roasting and grounding each ingredient. These are then mixed, seasoned, and prolonged cooked. It tastes sweet and sour with some bitterness. But if many ingredients are used in it, the taste is complex.
Nutritional facts
The amount of calories, macronutrients, antioxidants, and micronutrients in the sauce varies widely depending on the ingredients used and their proportion. As per USDA website, 100 g of this sauce has 571 calories. The total fats are 42 g and sodium is 1164 mg. Potassium is 602 mg. Total carbs are 42 g and dietary fiber is 10 g. This sauce has 7 g of protein.
Mole negro (Source: Food network)Moreover, it is enriched with iron, calcium, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin C, and vitamin B6. And it is loaded with antioxidants due to its predominant plant origin ingredients. Chocolates have flavonoids that mop up free radicals and prevent body from chronic health conditions and cancer.
Health benefits
This sauce has a rich and deep flavor. It improves appetite and enriches other food dishes. One can put it on tacos, enchiladas, tamales and such Mexican food dishes. It gives an unique flavor to stews, soups, and grilled meats. In the latter, it is used as a marinade.
Mole Poblano (Source: Pinterest)Though it takes time to prepare, the efforts are worth it. It comes in different colors depending on the ingredients used and adds colors to food dishes. The sauce might be red, grey, green, blue, yellow or black. It has high protein and dietary fiber content. Therefore, it makes the person feel full longer. Hunger is less and it reduces daily caloric intake. Besides this, it increases metabolism. Hence it assists in weight loss. But science backing to this claim is lacking.
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Additionally, it is rich in antioxidants and such phytonutrients. These ensure that your body level of free radicals are kept at a lower level. Hence, it has the potential to prevent chronic diseases of heart, artery, brain etc. And it can reduce risk of cancer.