Would you eat cactus?

Would you eat cactus or nopales as we say in Spanish? Raw, julienned nopales have a similar appearance to green beans, but the interior is mucilaginous like okra and the flavor is slightly tart like a lemon. Sautéing nopales will removesome of the slimy texture, as in the preparation below. Mom adds the optional egg when making breakfast tacos, and omits the eggs when serving nopalitos as a side dish.

The breakfast taco version is usually my breakfast request when visiting my mother. Fresh nopales can be purchased in some supermarkets already trimmed of their prickly spines.If you can only find them whole, the following photos explains how to trim and cut nopalitos. If you’d like more South Texas recipes take a peek at my cookbook, My South Texas Kitchen. Share your cooking photos with me on Instagram @y_delicacies.

You’ll notice that the cactus paddles close to the soil are thick, dark green mature paddles. These are tough and you don’t want to cook these. During the spring and summer months new paddles will grow. Break off this new growth as these paddles are thinner, light green and very tender. My mother shows you in the photo below how to trim nopales.

When using fresh nopales, cactus paddles, that haven’t been trimmed, remove the spines before washing each pad. First remove thespines on the outer edge by placing each cactus pad flat on a cutting board. Hold the base and use the tip of a sharp knife to press into thebase. Remove about 1/4- inch of the entire outer edge by sliding the knife tip all around the pad, working your way back around to thebase. Next, remove the spines in the middle of the pad by placing the nopal flat on a cutting board. Hold the base and place the knifeblade flat on the pad. Slide the knife blade along the surface. This should remove most of the spines. Slide the knife blade along anyindividual remaining spines to remove them. It’s okay to remove some of the green outer peel near each spine. Repeat with the other sideuntil all spines are removed. Now you can safely wash each nopal pad without getting a hand full of spines. Despined pads can be diced, julienned orcooked whole. These can also be frozen and easily thawed when ready to cook.

Cactus Tacos

Tacos de Nopalitos

YDelicacies.com

Yvette Zuniga Jemison

Servings: 4 individual servings or 6 tacos

INGREDIENTS

2 cups nopales, spines removed, washed and diced

2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup onion, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 cup water

2 large eggs, lightly beaten 6 corn tortillas

1. Preheat a comal or skillet on medium heat for the tortillas.

2. Meanwhile, in a small, dry skillet on medium heat, cook the nopales to release their juice. Continue to cook until the juices have evaporatedand the nopales begin tostick to the pan, 3-5 minutes.

3. Add the oil and onions and cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, blackpepper, salt and cumin and stir to combine. Add the water and cook until the water is reduced and thickened, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the eggs, gently stirring to combine, and cook until the eggs are set, 2-3 minutes.

5. Warm the tortillas on the preheated comal until they have a little color and are pliable, about 2 minutes.

6. Serve divided among 6 warm corn tortillas.