The other item that found its way into my shopping basket during my armchair trip to Mexico was nopales, the pads of the edible opuntia cacti. I’d never bought them before, so I quickly had to google the best way to prepare them, hoping not only for delicious results, but also to avoid pricking myself again with those pernicious little needles.
In fact, removing the thorns from the cactus pads is perhaps the most complicated part of this recipe, although it’s a stretch to say that it is complicated. The rest is a breeze. Throw the cactus in the oven, and while they are roasting, chop some vegetables and whisk together a simple vinaigrette.
Put everything together and you have a wonderful salad to accompany a dish like this beef barbacoa. Add some prawns on top, and you can even make a meal out if it.
Like other cacti and succulents, nopales are rich in mucilage, a type of soluble fibre that becomes viscous and slimy in contact with water. Mucilage is a excellent prebiotic fibre, shown to increase populations of lactobacilli (a type of beneficial bacteria) in the colon, and an increase in the production of short-chain fatty acids like butyrate and propionate¹. Not everybody likes the texture that characterizes foods high in mucilage (words like slimy and gluey don’t have the warmest of connotations), but I happen to love it very much.
Other favourite mucilaginous foods of mine include:
- Okra
- Kelp — the glutamate-rich seaweed that gives dashi, Japanese soup stock, its umami flavour
- Nagaimo (Dioscorea polystachya) — a long, white tuber that devolves into goo when you grate it!
- Natto — Japanese fermented soybeans that develop slimy white threads when you whip them with your chopsticks
- Wakame (Unidaria pinnatifida) — A type of seaweed commonly used in Japanese soups and salads
More about many of these in future posts!
What I had not realized, however, was that the tuna (prickly pears) which I remember buying at street markets in Bolivia, and savouring on park benches, come from the same genera of cactus plants!
Joëlle
Serves 2
Roasted nopales (cactus pads) come together with tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, arugula, fresh cheese and prawns in a vibrant, tasty and nutritious salad that bring the flavours of Mexico to your table in a flash. So, don't be a prick -- try this cactus salad;)
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Ingredients
- 2 Cactus pads (nopales)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 red onion, minced
- 2 cups loosely packed arugula
- 1/8 cup packed chopped cilantro leaves
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 tbsp shio koji
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- Juice of one lime
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp plain kombucha (I used my homemade kombucha)
- Black pepper
- 4 Prawns, cooked and peeled (optional)
- 1/2 avocado, sliced
- Crumbled fresh cheese (I used sheep feta)
- Zest of one lime
- Cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Holding the cactus pad by the end (you may want to wear a glove for this), slip a chef's knife under each thorn node to slice them off. Do this on both sides and along the edge of both cactus paddles
- Slice cactus pads into bite-sized pieces, and toss them a large bowl with the olive oil.
- Spread cactus pads on a sheet pan and roast for 20 minutes, stirring once midway. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- While the cactus is cooking, whisk together dressing ingredients.
- When the cactus is cool, put them in a salad bowl together with the tomatoes, red onion and arugula. Mix in the dressing.
- Top with prawns (if using) and avocado slices and garnish with crumbled cheese, lime zest and cilantro leaves. Buen provecho!
Notes
Shio koji (塩麹) is a lacto-fermented mixture of rice koji (rice inoculated with aspergillus oryzae spore -- the basis for many well-know Japanese ferments such as miso, sake and soy sauce). It provides enzymes and probiotics while imparting the dish with a unique umami flavour. You can substitute sea salt, himalayan salt or fish sauce. To learn more about shio koji, how to make it at home, and how to use it in the kitchen, click here.
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References
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Guevara-Arauza, J. C., Ornelas-Paz, J. D., Pimentel-González, D. J., Mendoza, S. R., Guerra, R. E., & Maldonado, L. M. (2012). Prebiotic effect of mucilage and pectic-derived oligosaccharides from nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica). Food Science and Biotechnology, 21(4), 997-1003. doi:10.1007/s10068-012-0130-1
