Rabbit, Mexican Style

This is rabbit the Mexican way, braised slow in a richly spiced, peanut-thickened sauce that nods to the country’s beloved peanut moles (encacahuatado). It’s deeply savory, gently spicy, and unlike anything in the European rabbit tradition.

The flavor base starts with chilies fried hard in peanut oil and crushed to release their juices, infusing the oil with heat and smoke before they’re removed. The rabbit is then rubbed with garlic, dusted with flour, and browned in that flavored oil to build a savory crust and help thicken the sauce.

What sets the sauce apart is peanut butter, stirred in with chicken broth, carrots, onion, and mushrooms, where it melts into a nutty, velvety gravy. Warm spices, cumin, whole cloves, and a dash of nutmeg, give it that unmistakable mole-style warmth. Then patience does the rest: a covered simmer of an hour or more breaks the lean rabbit down to fork-tender. Pour off the excess fat before serving, scatter with parsley, and serve with rice or warm tortillas to soak up the sauce. If rabbit’s hard to find, chicken takes beautifully to the same treatment.

Chef Tips

• Fry the chilies hard and crush them to release their juices into the oil, then remove them. That chili-infused oil is the flavor foundation.
• Brown the floured rabbit well. The crust adds flavor, and the flour helps thicken the sauce.
• Stir the peanut butter into warm broth so it loosens and blends smoothly instead of clumping.
• Keep the simmer gentle and covered; lean rabbit toughens over a hard boil.

Variations

• Chicken, especially thighs, works beautifully in place of rabbit.
• Add a square of dark chocolate to push the sauce closer to a full mole.
• Adjust the chilies up or down for your preferred heat.