Que Pasa Gente!
Did you finally get bored of that Croissan’wich? Great! It wasn’t very good for you anyways. I suggest you try some of the foods of your ancestors, you might find out the viejitos were right! In this installment we take a look at nopales, aka nopalitos, aka cactus paddles. It’s the Mexican-est food there is, it even plays a role in calling out Mexicans that have turned their back on their heritage. There is a popular phrase “tiene el nopal en la frente” (he has the nopal on his forehead) which is used when some person of Mexican descent tries to deny their background, even though everyone else knows the truth; you’re a commoner like the rest of us. I think I’m going to start using that phrase much more regularly, it needs to make a comeback.
Even if you don’t care about it’s Mexican-ness, you still might be interested in this recipe as Nopales are healthy, tasty, and cheap! They tend to remind me of cooked green beans, but more, uh, nopaley tasting. Plus you can amaze your friends with the fact that yes, you do know how to cook cactus! Besides, with the pending financial collapse we might all be forced to scrounge around in the deserts for stuff to eat and you’ll have a leg up. Don’t say I never did nothing for you! Enough with the wiri wiri, click here to get started.
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What ev,Chavo! I had the nopal on my forehead surgically removed years ago. 🙂
Chavo don’t forget to mention that the Nopalito’s in the bottle are easier to deal with (no scraping of the stickers) and I think taste better than the fresh ones (not as many gooey stringers).
Also important are the health benefits of Nopales especially for people having or prone to diabetes and high blood pressure.
Ademas Chavo, don’t leave out the “Tuna’s” (cactus apples), that are a delicious extra that grow on your Nopal plant. As kids in the hills of Lincoln Hts. we would pick Tuna’s and burn the stickers off them with dry grass, once in a while setting the whole hills on fire and threatening Happy Valley, and then we would enjoy eating Tuna’s, spitting out seeds and picking stickers out of our hands for hours.
Quixote,
Tunas are pears, foo. And they sell nopales in bottles? ¿qué la chingada? I’ve always had fresh nopales, either grown by a neighbor before we moved, growing them ourselves in our new house, or buying them at a swap meet or la Alameda from a truck. Nopales are good, regardless of slime, and eating them is refreshing.
Soledadenmasa, to each his (or her) own, I prefer the Nopalitos in a jar but that doesn’t mean I don’t like or eat fresh Nopales when I don’t have access to the store.
As far as your statement that “Tuna’s are a pear” well actually Tuna’s are a Tuna no mas, but I think you may be right about them being called a cactus pear, It may be I had a senior moment, pero no te enojes, you can call Tuna’s anything you like as far as I’m concerned, enjoy.
PS, What is foo supposed to mean? You want to throw down over Tuna’s?
Orale vamos a bailar, meet you behind the handball court at Downey Playground after school today.
I really need to take care of my nopal in the backyard. That and a chayote vine. God I miss my parents. Thanks for sharing this.
Nopales and eggs are the best! My aunt would always cook them for me when I was a kid ( I hated them) ….but I grew to love them…It has been a while since I had any…..gotta go get some from a can…fast and easy.
Chavo your topic of Nopales brought back a couple funny memories.
Years ago I had a house on a hill and the back yard, which was mainly a steep hill, was loaded with Nopal (cactus) . I’m talking about a cactus jungle, which was how we referred to it, it was tan gigante mano.
Anyway on more than a few occasions I would happen upon some Mexicanos from Mexico, usually a middle aged couple, man and wife, picking fresh Nopales from my back yard. Shit there was enough to feed a small city but the Mexicanos would act like they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, all scared and humilde’s. I would just laugh and tell them to go ahead and take what they needed anytime they wanted. Mil Gracias Senor, que Dios te bendiga Senor! One time after picking a guangoche full of Nopales a lady told me that in her town in Mexico the Patron would throw a person in the jail or beat the hell out of them for picking Nopales like they were. Sad shit.
Another time at my house in Highland Park I caught the old Abuelita from next door picking lemons off my tree by reaching over the fence. Same body language she had, like I had caught her stealing or something. I told her nicely Mira Senora, saca mis limones cuando quere’s, ai muchas.
Couple of weeks later and old Mexicano knocks on my door and asked me if the old lady that sold those good lemons had any more for sale. I told him to go next door and ask her, and while he was at it to tell her to bring me my piece of the action.
Funny I never saw her picking lemons from my tree again.
DQ, your story reminds me of a sign I once saw in Silver Lake. It seems the owners had just paid for some fancy Xeriscaping complete with all sorts of cactus including nopales. Perhaps their Latinos neighbors were helping themselves to the garden or something because the owners put out a sign in the front yard that read “Do not eat! Sprayed with poison. Veneno! Malathion!” At first I was like, “oh how considerate of them to warn the neighbors” but then I realized they prolly did it maliciously.
I’m a frontyard gardener so I have endless tales of people hanging over the fence to pick fruit or just coming in the yard to get what they want. I don’t mind sharing the fruit of the trees but I once caught my neighbor’s kid picking my just red tomatoes. I didn’t understand why they had to sneak and take them when I was giving them tons every week! Maybe they taste better when acquired subversively! 🙂
I used to love watching my grandma clean the nopales. She was truly an expert. She cook them and preserve them in jars so we could have whenever we wanted an ensalada de nopales, with camarones (yum!), or for breakfast with huevos y cebolla.
I do have to admit, nopales are an acquired taste. I didn’t like them as a kid, they were too slimy, but I grew into it.
Since I was a kid I never really liked nopales. My good friend made them a couple of years ago for a party and I was like “Oh maybe I’ll like them now that I’m way older” um… nope! still didn’t like them. Aaaaaaahhh and now I see he did not do that extra step to get rid of that “slimy” consistency. It was hella nasty if you know what I’m sprayin.
Nopalitos con huevo: Absolutely uno de mis favoritos!
Chavo, in these tough economic times your a johnny on the spot with the posts you put up on good food that is all around us growing wild (or planted by the old timers and now thought to be just weeds), nopales and verdolagas for example.
When we were kids and my Abuela and Bisabuela were still alive we had these foods quite often because the Abuela’s liked nothing better than to have us kids go out into the hills of Lincoln Hts and pick the wild plants there that they showed us were edible. Swiss Chard, Anise (we called it the licorice plant), Nopales, Verdolagas, Epazote, and even water cress from the LA River near Frogtown.
One of my favorites in the Springtime when everything was green and fresh was “Quelite’s” aka lambs quarters.
Most people think it is a weed no mas but we would pick it when tender and our Abuela’s would boil it like spinach with garlic and serve it with frijoles. It was so good the way they made it, probably because they put a lot of love into it.
You might want to post it up as it is a traditional food of the Mexicano’s and Indio’s and grows wild and is as prolific as verdolaga’s. It is even featured in song
El comal mira su pareja
Que dijites, ya estas vieja!
Si no puedes con la sopa de quelites
mucho menos con lentejas.
Nopales rock. thanks for posting this.
how about nopales asados!? toss those nopales on the grill for a great complement to your carne. and don’t forget the calabasitas, cebollitas, and of course elote on that grill.
years ago a previous land lord took down the nopales in the back yard because he didn’t like “ethnic” plants.
Thanks for the LH shwag Guey! I’ll try and return the favor…
DQ, I’ve just been reading a bit on quelites, they are quite popular in New Mexico too.
Here’s a cool site that has all the old school foods:
http://www.ranchogordo.com/html/v_herbs_grain.htm
Chimatli, funny you mentioned it, my Abuela and Bisabuela were both from New Mexico and Southern Colorado, and you’re right, quelites are very popular there, almost as popular as Chile de Chimayo and Sopaipilla’s, but not quite.
Once, watching one of those Globe Trekker shows on PBS I saw a woman cleaning nopales with her fingernails! That’s hardcore!
Aaaaaawww. You just brought back a tons of memories. My mom has cactus growing alongside the back of her fence and my Nana used to pick the cactus for breakfast. I.hated.it. Ugh–not that slimy stuff again! I would groan.
But these days, I would die for that lady to stand at her kitchen table and make nopales for me again. I haven’t eaten them in years. Maybe I should give them a try again. She also used to make them in a red chile sauce. That was tasty.
thanx
Here’s a link to a recipe using quelites… and tofu! And from an LA resident too.
http://donalupeskitchen.com/2008/04/avocados-stuffed-with-tofu-quelites-ceviche/
I love nopales with chipotle and onion. Basically you boil them twice like you suggest. then sautee lots of white onions, big pieces, fresh minced garlic, then add chipotle (as much as you like), then add the nopales, add a little bit of salt y ya esta.en tacos or with some rice they taste great.
I honestly can’t pick my favorite nopales dish. They’re realy good grilled and I used to see my mom put scores on both sides of the nopales she said it helped release the babas.
I loved the pictures!! I was looking to see how long to cook the nopales. I made some this morning and my husband said they were hard. I cooked them for 20 minutes, he said that is not long enough. He is from Gervacio Mendoza GTO. He’s sister cooks hers for 20 minutes, I thought that was long enough as well.
Thank you!!! I just moved to North Carloina from El Paso, where my mom and abuelita cooked for me, and I miss it. I found some nopales at the flea market, go figure, along with the only mexicans here, and I just had to buy them (the nopales that is) even though I wasn’t quite sure how to prepare them.
I’ve been sauteeing packages of frozen nopales (cubed) in olive oil with onion, garlic and red bell peppers.
I recently got some fresh ones already cubed. After much research on the internet, I’m still confused as to whether
it’s best to:
1.First boil the fresh nopales, then sautee them;
2. or only boil them, then sautee the other ingredients, then mix together;
3. or skip the boiling , just sautee the fresh noplales separately, then sautee the other ingredients separately, then mix;
4. or, finally, simply sautee all the ingredients together.
I’m told the reason for boiling or sauteeing separately is because they need to cook much longer than the other ingredients.
HELP!!
P.S. If you recommend boiling, how long should they boil?..(add salt or baking soda?)
THANKS!
Thank you for your recipe, especially how to remove the slime from the nopalitos!
I like noplitos for all sorts of dishes, very healthy food, but I did not know how to de-slime them.
Mil Gracias!
Thanks for the recipe..I live in Indonesia and there aren’t cactus growing here, but yesterday I saw one in a mountain and i was sooo happy, i really miss mexican food…
Does anyone know if it’s feasible to put fresh, cubed, nopales in the freezer to keep them?
My mom just got a bunch of Nopales. Can they be froze? If so, how do I prepare it to put it in the freezer? Thank you so much.
I’m fortunate to be living in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and San Antonio, Texas, where fresh (even cleaned of stickers and cubed!) and jarred nopales are readily available! The ones in jars are available in several brands. be aware that the Dona Maria brand is pickled.
After reading an article about the amazing health benefits (fiber, fiber, fiber) of nopales, I eat them daily. I even have a nopale smoothy each morning for breakfast!
For the smoothy, I use 2 cups of fresh, cubed nopalitos; 2 cups of grapefruit juice, and one chopped banana. Some folks add the juice of a lime. Put in a blender and voila…instant healthy breakfast!
For meals, I use the menu I submitted earlier, over rice.
On my last physical, my cholesterol level dropped substantially!
Thanks so much for the correct prep. of the nopales. I took my girlfriend to a flea market in the Bay Area she wanted to try somthing different & healthy, so I tapped my Mexican Roots and freshhhh, cleaned, and cut nopalitos were the result. Its a nice change from our regular fare.Thanks again
Amen to what many have already said. The pics and directions are fabulous and made it easy for a first-time nopalitos user like me! Thanks!
so grateful for this! thanks! i’m vegan from san diego and recently ventured out to the eastern so cal desert where we found a fantastic mexican food restaurant. they had nopales and eggs on the menu, but i don’t eat eggs, so i asked if they could make me a veggie burrito featuring the nopales and it was amazing. i came home raving about it and my friends have been begging me to try to duplicate it ever since. i’m gonna use your tutorial to give it a shot! thanks so much.
Great article and I enjoyed it very much. I am in Massachusetts so the question is where can I obtain some nopales? Thank You.
Where can you obtain nopales if you live in Massachusetts?
Thanks for the tips. I’m making nopales with pork for my mom’s 82nd birthday tomorrow. Hope it turns out :0)
I used to live in Nopaltepec estado de Mexico, and the funny thing is there were no nopales there!
I like your site it’s colorful and the way you presented it ,it keep my attention,and that says a lot for me.
LOL, i like your Nopalitos Recipe……Im mexican and i can’t believe i didn’t know how to cook them….i guess i just let my mom work her magic and never asked her…..jajaja..im Estupid!!!
Thank you so much for the photos and the clear explanation of how to cook the delicious nopales. I just love them fried and added to my breakfast burritos, or veggies burritos, as well as salads. I boiled them before but didn’t throw out the initial water. This trick is essential.
Please post more Mexican food cooking tips like this one.
Love the pictures. Love the way you described everything, and loved the humor. Thanks for being creative with the way you wrote this!
Great recipe, I’m so glad there’s websites like yours. Arriba el Chavo and chiquilladas.
Thank You! I finally got the nerve today to pick some of the nopales in my yard and cook them. They were delicious! I’d planted them because I’m trying to save water and they went well with my Xeriscaping . I’d never seen anyone cook them before, so your pix and instructions were VERY helpful. Even an old gringo (gringa?) can learn a new trick now and then.
Thanks!! I’ve tried the ones in the bottle but they seem to be too salty for me (and my husband has high blood pressure). Nopales, onions, eggs – breakfast of champions. I think just the word “nopales” reminds me of my father making breakfast for us on Sundays growing up.
Also, if you use a cheap potato peeler (you know, the ones that bend with any sort of pressure that end up in your drawer never being used) it’s easy to remove the spines.
Wonderful… SAUTEED ONIONS, NOPALITOS, AND GROUND VENISON IS GREAT FOR THE COCONUTS OUT THERE.
Ya! I just moved to the Big Island of Hawaii and have a huge nopal cactus RIGHT NEXT to my ground floor condo door!!!! The other day I saw a Mexican woman pick it and was hoping it’s some powerful psychedelic, hehe, but turned out it’s food!!! I’m about to cook it for the first time in my life right now, wish me luck!!!! Will report later!! Great article, funny and refreshing!
A nice sour taste, was great sauteed with eggs, onions and feta cheese. Can’t wait to try it in a salad with diced boiled eggs, thins onion slices, olives, and tomatoes ^o^!
Greaaaat i remember my family use to cook it back in the days im getting my family to like them great recipe now i know how to do it.
Thanks aka Malandrina……… Not real Email i made it up!
Thank u so much! I’m trying to impress my new son in law by making Nopalitos! He’ Filipino and Mexican and I am Black. We will embrace all ouur cultures for the grandkids!
Thanks Chavo! My kids were starting to be pochos so I planted a cactus paddle in the yard when their great grandpa was selling his home @ 97 years old. We cut the tunas and took a few pencas to plant. That cactus came over as a penca over 60 years ago.
They love the tunas but finally today- thanks to you- we are cookin’. I should put on the song “huele a gas” by chico che. Great description and wonderful pictures. I wondered how to get rid of the okra goo. Sobresaliente!~