name: Nopal

flavor_db_name_variants: nopal

source: foodb

status: draft

food_db_id: Nopal

id: 416

name_scientific: Opuntia cochenillifera

description: Nopales (for the pads) are a vegetable made from the young cladode (pad) segments of prickly pear, carefully peeled to remove the spines. These fleshy pads are flat and about hand-sized. They can be purple or green. They are particularly common in their native Mexico, where the plant is eaten commonly and regularly forms part of a variety of Mexican cuisine dishes. Farmed nopales are most often of the species Opuntia ficus-indica, although the pads of almost all Opuntia species are edible. Nopales are generally sold fresh in Mexico. In more recent years bottled, or canned versions are available mostly for export. Less often dried versions are available. Used to prepare nopalitos, they have a light, slightly tart flavor, like green beans, and a crisp, mucilaginous texture. In most recipes the mucilaginous liquid they contain is included in the cooking. They are at their most tender and juicy in the spring. Nopales are most commonly used in Mexican cuisine in dishes such as huevos con nopales, carne con nopales (meat with nopal), tacos de nopales, or simply on their own or in salads with queso panela (panela cheese). Candied nopale is called acitróne. Nopales have also grown to be an important ingredient in New Mexican cuisine and in Tejano culture (Texas).

itis_id: 19699

wikipedia_id: Nopal

picture_file_name: 423.jpg

picture_content_type: image/jpeg

picture_file_size: 94830

picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:33:50.000Z

legacy_id: 450

food_group: Vegetables

food_subgroup: Other vegetables

food_type: Type 1

created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:40.000Z

updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:05:24.000Z

creator_id: null

updater_id: null

export_to_afcdb: false

category: specific

ncbi_taxonomy_id: 338184

export_to_foodb: true

public_id: FOOD00416