Nopal Preparation

How to clean and prepare a Nopalea grande cactus leaf. Covers cleaning, and what parts to trim.

Opuntia cactus is very nutritious.

You can find cactus nutrient levels at http://www.rivenrock.com/nutrients.htm,
recipes at http://www.rivenrock.com/recipes.html
Health benefits of cactus at http://www.nopalcactusblog.com/catego...

and more at our site at www.rivenrock.com

• Category

  Howto & Style

[Chandani Diaz]

This is GREAT!!! My daughter and I used to clean nopales the "old way" and it took HOURS to clean 5-6 pads. This is the best video I've seen so far

[RivenrockGardens]

It does depend on the variety... some have big spines that require proper knife-work..... this is just a very-much better variety

Thanks for the kind words!

:-)

[Califman831]

use a knife to scrape!

[RivenrockGardens]

This variety doesn't need a knife to scrape away spines like the other cactus I've seen. You just need to trim the edge... it doesn't have big spines like most...

this makes it easier for the novice cactus cook, as well as for the restaurants....

and this one does not need to be cooked either... it's great raw in a salad or salsa...

[johnlvs2run]

What about the big spines?

As you don't wear gloves, are you used to the small stickers?

[RivenrockGardens]

This is a particular variety that is not very spiny... they do have the very tiny 'glochids', and in this case, yes, it is having the know-how of where and how to hold them bare-handed. We recommend folks use dishwashing (not leather) gloves.

[SexyRobotJesus]

I'm gonna put mine on pizza!

[Carl Hendershot]

Its great in bean and cheese burritos... Diced up in Top Ramen for a quick meal booster.

[lumidianos]

in north africa algeria.

[ألفـرآشـة ألذهبيــة الــورد ألمتكبـر]

لاتعليق .......

[RivenrockGardens]

It was introduced to North Africa centuries ago, and yes, the spiny ones do cause 'issues'. There are propane burners that can burn the spines off and make them palatable to livestock... in this way they can be eradicated from an area and used for livestock feed. Afterwards the area could be replanted with a less-spiny variety that must be maintained to keep the spiny sports from growing. With proper maintenance a nearly spine-free cactus plantation can provide tons of food and forage per acre

[lumidianos]

algeria north africa.