Huevos con Nopal de la Sierra Gorda

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide cast iron comal or heavy skillet
• •Clay cazuela or shallow barro serving dish
• •Wooden spoon
• •Sharp knife for cleaning nopales

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the nopal

   Lay each nopal flat and scrape away any remaining thorns with the back of a knife. Trim the tough edge and the dry base, then dice the pads into 1/2-inch pieces. Tender young pads cook faster and taste cleaner. Old thick pads are tougher and more sour, so ask for nopales tiernos at the market.

2. 2

   Dry-cook the cactus

   Heat a wide comal, clay cazuela, or heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the diced nopal and 1/2 teaspoon salt, with no fat yet. Stir often for 7 to 9 minutes, until the cactus releases its baba, the liquid bubbles away, and the pieces turn from bright green to olive green. This is the step people skip. Then they complain about slippery eggs. The nopal must dry first.

   Do not cover the pan. You want the liquid to evaporate. A lid traps the baba and gives you boiled cactus.
3. 3

   Fry the aromatics

   Push the cooked nopal to one side of the pan. Add the manteca de cerdo to the empty side and let it melt. Stir in the white onion, chile serrano, and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, until the onion turns translucent and the serrano smells green and sharp. La manteca es el sabor. For a dish this plain, the fat has nowhere to hide, so use the right one.

4. 4

   Add epazote

   Stir the nopal and aromatics together, then add the chopped epazote. Cook for 30 seconds. Epazote is not decoration. It cuts the green thickness of the cactus and gives the eggs that central Mexican smell you recognize before the plate reaches the table.

5. 5

   Scramble the eggs

   Beat the eggs with the black pepper and a pinch of salt. Lower the heat to medium-low and pour the eggs into the pan. Let them sit for 10 seconds, then fold gently with a wooden spoon until soft curds form around the nopal. Stop while the eggs still look slightly glossy. They will finish in the hot pan. Dry eggs are not discipline, they are neglect.

6. 6

   Serve immediately

   Spoon the huevos con nopal into a warm cazuelita or onto a Dolores Hidalgo majolica plate. Serve with warm corn tortillas, salsa de molcajete, and a little queso fresco if you have it. This is breakfast, not theater. Eat it while the eggs are tender and the nopal still has its bite. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy nopales that are small, flexible, and bright green, with no wrinkled edges. At the mercado, the vendor should clean them in front of you. If the pads are thick like a sandal, they are old.
• •Chile serrano belongs here because it gives a clean green heat. Jalapeno works in a pinch, but it tastes rounder and less sharp. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Do not use flour tortillas for this Queretaro breakfast. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition. In the Sierra Gorda, put warm corn tortillas on the table and move on.
• •If your epazote is tired and black at the edges, leave it out before you use bad herb. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado. They know which bundle came in fresh.

Advance Preparation

• •The nopales can be cleaned and diced one day ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator, then dry-cook them just before making the eggs.
• •You can dry-cook the nopales up to two days ahead and refrigerate them. Rewarm them in the pan with manteca before adding the onion, serrano, epazote, and eggs.
• •Do not scramble the eggs ahead. Eggs wait badly and taste worse.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 310g)