Shawhan Farms Mexican Mole Dry Sauce Mix - Oaxacan Negro Blend - All Natural - Just Add Water - Use For Simple Meals, Enchiladas, or Rice - 3.5 Ou...

I think those who haven't loved this are missing a key ingredient. Read below As some whose lived in Madera, California with many Oaxacan friends and, consequently much experience eating the best authentic moles ever made, I would say I am a bit of a mole lover & snob. Now living in the Mid-west, authentic moles are impossible to come by. I've tried making my own with mixed results and I just don't have the time to make regularly. So when I saw these mole mixes, I was excited to try. And... this Oaxacan Negro Mole is great even my husband who has never liked any mole from a restaurant liked this mole!! As a dry mix, I assumed there would be no fat in the mix and there isn't (fat isn't very shelf-stable). So those who haven't loved this mole, my guess is they failed to added fat to the sauce as they prepared it. Fat is necessary and would be added in any traditional mole recipe. If you don't want to add fat, just don't expect it to taste nearly very good. I added some avocado oil and some chicken fat leftover from chicken & dumplings when heating it up, in addition to some low-sodium better than bouillon. And it turned out *oh so good* - like I can't even begin to tell you how much we enjoyed this mole. With the green mole, we made enchiladas and the little jar made enough sauce for a whole casserole dish of enchiladas (about 6-8 servings). So the little container seemed a bit pricey up front but divided 8 ways, that is just pennies compared to the time to make yourself or to buy at a good restaurant (if you're lucky enough to live next to one). With this mole negro, since it is my favorite mole type, I wanted to try cooking some with chicken as most mole is served. We both felt these mole mixes do best with enchiladas or over baked dishes (just as they so recommend both on the listing and the product). The flavor was still good over the chicken but I'd your looking for a 100% authentic mole negro, this isn't 100% there and putting in a baked dish, we both felt compliments it better and makes the little difference in flavor from authentic not noticeable. I also love that it is self-stable so you can stock up and make for a super quick week night meal. I will be definitely buying this mole. My only suggestion is that Shawhan farms starts selling their moles in bulk:) Ingredients: Spices, Sugar, Almonds, Garlic, Tamarind, Cocoa, Onion, Salt, Sesame Seeds, Tomato, Apple, Contains 2% or less of Sunflower Oil, Cellulose, Citric Acid, Gum Acacia, Xanthan Gum. Contains: Sesame, Tree Nuts

It adds great flavor to many Mexican dishes. I really like the rich complexity. I recommend it.

I didnt get this mole powder to make a mole sauce. Rather, I got it to add to soup and to occasionally add it to other things to give something a bit of a spicy, flavorful kick. Ive been trying to cut down on my sodium intake, and Ive been able to do all right with most stuff, but soup seems to be a bit of a trickier situation. The low sodium stuff Ive tried hasnt really been very flavorful, so Ive been trying to add flavor with other things. While this powder does have sodium, its only 180mg for 2 tablespoons, and I dont even use that much. As I did not use this to make a mole sauce, I dont know how it would compare to an authentically made sauce with fresh ingredients. Using it as I would with other spice jars, though, I think its pretty good. However, in my use with soups, I think the yellow flavor works better, and it has a little less sodium. Perhaps in a stew or chili this one would be better, but I think the cocoa powder detracts a bit when this is used in a broth. Its still a good spice powder, but I think the yellow has more of a universal use case.

My wife and I enjoy trying spices and especially new spice blends, so we were happy to review all three of the Shawhan Farms Dry Mole blends and then write this comparative review to help other customers. We try to follow a health-conscious diet, which means we're cooking with much more attention to the ways we spice our meats, fish and vegetables. And we like to help others discover choices that we've enjoyed. So, first, a few observations about this whole line of products: We're not sure why this company claims that it's special to have a product that is "shelf stable." Mole sauces in jars are stable, too. Apparently, the claim is that this simply is an "alternative" to those jars. However, in our experience living near a robust Mexican-American community with dozens of restaurants and grocery stores, there are lots of alternatives if you want to purchase pre-packed mole. In one of our local stores, I counted a dozen mole brands on the shelf. Yes, we're aware that some grocery stores in other parts of the U.S. don't regularly stock mole in a jar, but it's not that hard to find these days. Then, second, anyone who loves mole will tell you that jars or mixes are a poor substitute for home-cooked or for long-simmered-in-a-restaurant mole sauces. We disagree that this product should be called "authentic." For us, authentic involves hours of preparation. Local chef's mole sauces are among the trademark appeals of their restaurants. Long simmering is authentic. A jar of dry spice is not. Then, if you do want to buy pre-packaged mole sauce, and we have bought jars because it's simply so convenient, then we question why you would spend this much for these little jars. In stores near our home, a jar of mole sauce is a small fraction of this cost. Making a dinner-size mole sauce for a family, as per the instructions on these Shawhan jars, pretty much winds up using at least half a jar and perhaps the whole jar. If you want to develop a good quantity of the thick sauce you see in the product photos, you've got to mix the dry powder with 1 part spice to 2 parts water so you can quickly see that this little jar won't last long. So those are our general concerns. Nevertheless, you may be tempted to buy these dry spices in particular because you might simply like to add a little of this spice to a food without trying to actually develop a mole sauce or marinade. Then, here are our family reactions to these three blends: Mild Green: We find this too mild for our tastes. It simply doesn't stack up to what we expect from good verde sauces. Oaxacan Yellow: Again, we find this too mild for our tastes. Not a blend we would purchase again. Oaxacan Negro: This is the one spice blend, among these three, that we can rate with 5 stars as having, at least, an approximation of the mole sauces we enjoy. We won't be repeat customers. If we want shelf-stable mole sauces, we've got favorite brands of mole in jars that will continue to be our mainstays. But we do think this Negro blend deserves 5 stars for a pretty good dry approximation of the flavors we like.