Content

• Resources
• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

Prickly pear cactus is an important staple in the Mexican and Central American diet. This type of food is increasingly popular in many places as an exotic, stylish and healthy addition to the diet. The prickly pear cactus There are three edible parts: leaves (processed like vegetables), petals (used in salads), and fruit (can be considered a fruit. This plant grows wild throughout the southwestern United States. , down to South America and up to Canada, however, the cacti you find at a farmer's store or market comes from the farm.

Resources

• Cactus leaves pear thorns
• The prickly pear cactus
• Pepper, salt and other spices

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Pear pear cactus leaf

1. 

   
   
   Buy or cut some prickly pear cactus leaves. See Warnings section. This plant is called a pear cactus thorn There is definitely a reason.
   • Choose leaves that are firm and bright green.
   • The small and young leaves harvested in early spring are the most succulent, have a delicate flavor and least spiky. Thicker leaves mean older. Older leaves are often fibrous, and the sap is also denser, which many people dislike. Leave the old leaves for the animals to eat through the food scarcity season. The soft leaves are sometimes sold under the name "young leaves".
   • If you are harvesting the cactus yourself, be sure to use thick gloves or tongs. Cut leaves from the plant or cut at the stem. Trimming at the stem can reduce the pressure on the leaves and help the plant recover more quickly than cutting or removing the leaves. This method keeps your cactus healthy for the next harvest season.

2. 

   
   
   Use a knife to remove the spikes from the cactus leaves. Do not remove gloves until they are washed and the peeled parts of the leaves are completely clean. Cactus leaves not only have large spines but also tiny, invisible spines that are much more itchy; These spikes are also called feather hook, extremely difficult to remove from the skin. You can also remove cacti spines by burning them with a small torch or placing cactus leaves on a gas stove and flipping the leaves with tongs. See Warnings.

3. 

   
   
   Wash the cactus leaves under cool, running water. Cut or cut any discolored or crushed areas.

4. 

   Cut the cactus leaf (wipe the blade after each cut, as small spikes may stick to the knife) or leave the whole leaf intact, depending on how you cook it.

5. 

   Process cactus leaves. You can boil, roast or mix cactus leaves with other ingredients to make them unique, delicious and healthy.
   • With the boiling method, sometimes you have to drain the water and boil it again once or twice, depending on how thick the sap is. The thicker the leaves, the thicker the resin.
   • Boiling cactus leaves together with copper coins is a popular way to thin the sap and is easier to eat for those unfamiliar with this dish.
   • Boiled cactus leaves are then drained, washed with cold water and processed into a salad with sliced ​​tomatoes, onions, coriander, jalapeños, vinegar, salt and lime juice.
   • For the baking method, you may want to sprinkle a lot of salt, pepper and other spices over the leaves. When the cactus leaves are soft and slightly brown, it is edible.
   • Shredded cactus leaves can be mixed with fresh lemon juice and a little olive oil. You can also add roasted portobello mushrooms to your salads.
   • Try adding cooked cactus leaves to soups, salads or omelets, making pickles, or serving them separately.
   • A popular traditional Mexican dish is "nopalitos en salsa verde". Cactus leaves are chopped and boiled (see description above), then cooked with a traditional tomato sauce made from tomatillos (sometimes mistaken for green tomatoes, but actually a completely different fruit), onion, garlic, coriander and jalapeño (puree the ingredients in a blender, then bring to a boil and simmer). This dish is often sandwiched in corn rice paper like a taco dish or served with french fries.
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Method 2 of 2: Prickly pear cactus

1. 

   Buy or harvest the prickly pear cactus.
   • The skin of the prickly pear cactus is red or purple in color and the dark purple inside is said to be the sweetest, but the fruits in Mexico usually have the white skin.
   • Store-bought prickly pear cactus is usually spiny-free and can sometimes be handled with bare hands. The untreated cactus remained feather hook It causes insane itching if it gets on the skin. To be sure, use tongs, or at least lined your hands with a plastic bag instead of gloves.
   • If you are harvesting the prickly pear cactus, remember that while the fruit of this plant is edible, only a few are truly ripe and delicious. You should pick them when the fruit is mauve, just before the fruit starts to wrinkle.

2. 

   Get rid of spikes.
   • Wash each time 5 or 6 fruits in the basket under cold water, stirring around the basket for 3-4 minutes, remember to lightly tap. This way you can remove the yellow hairs on the fruit for a comfortable grip.

3. 

   Peel off the cactus.
   • Once you have removed the skin of the pods, cut the thicker skin at the ends (top and bottom). You need to try a few times to know how thick you should be. In general, you need to cut the skin so that it doesn't break the seed-filled pulp.
   • Cut the fruit in half lengthwise from top to bottom through the shell, then pry the peel off with the tip of the knife and peel it off.

4. 

   Cut the cactus into slices, or stick a fork or skewer into the fruit to eat.
   • The prickly pear cactus meat can be used to make jam, jelly, ice cream, wine and "cactus candy."
   • You can either eat the whole seeds (but be careful not to bite the seeds as they are quite hard) or spit them out.
   • Some people add prickly pear cactus seeds to soup or dry, then grind them into flour.

5. 

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Advice

• The taste of the prickly pear cactus almost resembles a kiwifruit, but not as sour.
• Do not use tweezers if a small thorn is stabbed into the skin. Apply some milk glue (Elmer's glue) to the area where the thorn is stabbed. Wait for the glue to dry into a "skin" layer on your hand, then peel it off. The thorns should be peeled off with no pain. The bristles will poke your skin if you are not careful. If milk adhesive is not available, you can use duct tape or strong paper tape to remove the bristles.
• The processed cactus leaves has a green bean-like flavor and texture similar to okra.
• If roasted over fire, the cactus spines will be burned off. You can also feed the animals with prickly pear cactus leaves for a short time.
• The prickly pear cactus is not only popular in the US and Mexico but also in the Mediterranean and European countries people also eat the prickly pear cactus. In Italy, this fruit is usually served in a bowl of cold water; In Malta it is common to refrigerate fruit for a few hours in the refrigerator before eating.
• To learn more about the nutritional benefits and value of prickly pear cactus, check out the links below.
• If you want to keep cactus leaves in the refrigerator, make sure the leaves are fresh and not wrinkled. Seal up in plastic wrap, and you will last up to 2 weeks.
• If you are in constant contact with cacti, you may find that the cactus's bristles are a minor nuisance and only cause itchy waves. However, the hook feathers in some species of Opuntia cacti are larger than the spines of others. Feathers and spines of the species Opuntia Engelmanii v. Texensis can be very painful. You should use gloves when working with cacti.
• At first, you should buy leaves, not pick them yourself. That way you will know what to look for.
• In some cases, you can easily remove the cactus's hook feathers by rubbing against a thick sheet of no longer used. And this article says that Native Americans rub cactus leaves into the sand to remove hook hair, but it's actually not really "sand" but rather tightly textured sandy soils of the southwestern United States.
• You should harvest in the late afternoon when the sap is at its lowest or early in the morning.
• You can buy cactus leaves about 20 cm long (classified as leaf type small) or fruit about 10 cm long (to be classified fit). Larger leaves and cacti will be difficult to process.

Warning

• If you can harvest the prickly pear cactus yourself, you must always wear gloves.
• Some prickly pear cactus species do not have thorns, but all all have hook feathers.
• Be very careful when removing thorns from a cactus, or buying leaves and cacti with thorns removed.
• Unless using very thick gloves, it is best to use tongs or "remote" tools to handle the cactus leaves.
• Note that the cactus spines can pierce the skin and are very painful.