How to Cook Nopales With Eggs
A true fusion of cuisines, Southwestern food is innovative, classic, colorful, evolving and explosive. Most of the classics, such as nopales con huevos, or cactus with eggs, are borne from the resourcefulness that comes from just doing the best you can to make it in the hot desert sun. The nopal cactus thrives throughout Mexico, where the arid climate forces the root system deep underground in search of water. When the cactus finds water, it stores the moisture in its succulent leaves. Nopales tastes similar to green beans, and the only concession you have to make when cooking it with eggs is blanching to release the moisture it contains.
Things You'll Need
- Nopales
- Vegetable peeler or paring knife
- Cutting board
- Pot with lid
- Salt
- Aromatic ingredients such as garlic, onions and chilis
- Colander
- Paper towels
- Oil
- Saute pan
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Vegetables such as tomatoes, corn and tomatillos
- Herbs and spices such as cumin and cilantro
- Eggs
Instructions
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Rinse the nopales under cool running water and pat them dry. Look the leaves over for any remaining spines, even if you acquired yours with the spines removed. If you find any, or if you acquired the nopales with the spines intact, lay them flat on a cutting board and remove the spines with a vegetable peeler or paring knife.
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Shave about 1/16 inch from the edges of the nopales. The edges of the leaves are particularly tough. Cut the nopales into 1/8- to 1/4-inch-thick strips or small dices.
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Place the nopales in a pot and cover them with about 6 inches of water. Add aromatic ingredients to the water, if desired. Aromatic ingredients, or ingredients used mainly for background flavors and aroma, that work well with nopales include chopped garlic, roughly chopped onions and diced chilies.
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Season the water to taste with salt and cover the pot with a lid. Bring the nopales to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer.
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Simmer the nopales for about 20 minutes and drain them in a colander. Pick out the aromatic ingredients, place the nopales on a plate and pat them dry with paper towels.
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Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a saute pan on the stove over medium heat for a few minutes. Add the nopales and saute them for five to seven minutes, or until they develop a light golden-brown color. Stir the nopales occasionally with a wooden spoon or spatula.
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Add aromatic ingredients, if desired. You can saute the nopales with the same ingredients you blanched them with, such as garlic, onions and chilies, as well as tomatoes, corn, tomatillos and herbs and spices, such as cilantro and cumin -- all classic Southwestern flavors that go well with nopales con huevos.
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Saute the aromatic ingredients until they become fragrant and soften, about five minutes.
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Scoot the ingredients in the pan to the edge to make room for the eggs in the center. Add a few cracked eggs in the center of the pan and stir them until they start to set.
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Incorporate the vegetables from around the edges of the pan into the eggs and stir. Cook the eggs until the desired doneness, or about five minutes.
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Taste the nopales con huevos and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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