Cactus adds southwest zest to salsa, stir fries, jellies, bread and even liquor

By Lynn Brezosky
Associated Press

 

Knight Ridder Newspapers

Nopales are a favorite addition to almost any dish. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans are accustomed to mixing nopales into all sorts of dishes — the cactuses are stir-fried with eggs and shrimp or maybe beef and peppers, tossed into soups, and made into a salsa for tortillas.

LAREDO - Nopales. The big cactuses Anglos call prickly pears are everywhere here, growing wild along the highways and on the ranches, friendly looking despite their thorns.
   Occasionally you'll see a family stop along the roadway to cut a few, especially if the plants' spiked round fruit, or tuna, is in season. And why not? Both stem pad and fruit make good, healthful eating.
   They don't have much taste by themselves, but the stem pads, which are considered vegetables, add texture, zest and color to dishes, as well as vitamins. Some compare them to okra or green peppers.
   Root of Mexico
   So central were nopales to the indigenous culture of what is now the southwestern United States and Mexico that they are the root of Mexico City's Aztec name, Tenochtitlan, meaning "place of the cactus fruit."
   In cases of drought, nopales were the lifeblood of ancient cultures here, food for both people and their livestock. They also were used to soothe wounds, stiffen cloth, strengthen mortar and fence off wild animals. Cattle that grazed on the nopales were said to develop a special flavor in their meat and milk.

Associated Press

Add cactus to your favorite stir-fry recipes. They can be cut according to preference; half-inch strips in a hot wok will provide a nice texture in about 90 seconds.

   Mexicans and Mexican-Americans are accustomed to mixing nopales into all sorts of dishes - the cactuses are stir-fried with eggs and shrimp or maybe beef and peppers, tossed into soups, grilled with olive oil, even pickled or made into a salsa for tortillas. In some cases, the recipes have been handed down for generations, since before Texas was Tejas.
   New recipes are always evolving. Care for a prickly pear margarita?
   It's only recently that the nutritional benefits have been getting attention. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the sliced pads, or nopalitos, are low in fat but high in water-soluble fiber, pectin and energy-boosting complex carbohydrates, as well as calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron. They weigh in at about 60 calories a cup.
   Medical benefits
   Molly Thongthiraj, a 25-year employee of the California Cactus Center in Pasadena, Calif., says she has seen more interest than ever in cactuses. Hispanic customers say they use cactus for a variety of ailments, even diabetes, she said. The Mexican Institute of Nutrition in Mexico City is researching health effects of the plant.
   Thongthiraj said she's also seen more Asians buying the plants. "I've noticed people are learning about it," she said. "Then they want to grow it."
   That's an easy task as long as the ground isn't too moist. Adding sand or Perlite to the soil helps, she said. "You just lay them on the ground," Thongthiraj said of the pads. "They just root."

Associated Press

A cactus juice cocktail is one of the more recent uses of nopales.

   As a boy, Ramirez would go out in the brush and gather the nopales for his parents to cook.
   Today, he chases leads, usually word-of-mouth, to elderly people who speak of old plant cures, so he can compile and investigate them. He also wants to recapture the indigenous Mexican diet, the one that predates fat-laden, fast-food tacos. Nopales, he said, are a big part of that diet.
   Good eating
   He knows of about 150 recipes, including jellies, bread, even a liquor. For a visitor, he prepared them in a stir-fry with tomatoes, onions, garlic, shrimp, olive and sesame oil.
   When choosing pads for eating, pick immature ones so they still will be tender. Use tongs so as not to get spines or glochids (tiny, fuzzy spines) in your fingers.
   Using a sharp knife or vegetable peeler, remove the areoles (the places where spines develop on the pad). Rinse and then dice, slice or pare as desired.
   To avoid contact with the sticky fluid that oozes from the nopales, steam them whole, just long enough for their color to change from bright green to olive drab. Once the color changes, immediately plunge them into a bowl of cool water, then cut on a cutting board. The fluid is meant to be mixed into and enhance dishes.
   Add fresh diced or sliced "nopalitos" (as nopales are called when they're cut up into small pieces) to your favorite stir-fry recipes. They can be cut according to preference; half-inch strips in a hot wok will provide a nice texture in about 90 seconds. The thinner they are cut and longer they are cooked, the more soluble fiber they are likely to lose.