Chef Lupita
Arroz Blanco Estilo Morelos
Morelos white rice is fried until pearly, then steamed with a whole serrano and parsley, a clean table rice that knows its job beside beans, guisados, and mole verde.
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Nopales Asados con Cebolla
Created by
Ciudad de México's southern nopal country gives you this comal side: whole cactus paddles blistered until tender, onions charred black at the edges, lime and salt doing honest work.
Side Dishes
Mexican
BBQ
Budget Friendly
Weeknight
15 min
Active Time
18 min cook•33 min total
Yield4 servings
Ciudad de México, the southern alcaldía of Milpa Alta. That is where this dish lives. Not in the glass towers, in the nopal fields climbing the old volcanic soil toward the edge of the city, where the mercado sells paddles still crisp enough to snap when you bend them.
Nopales asados are not complicated, but don't confuse that with careless. You clean the paddles, score them lightly, salt them, and put them on a hot comal until the green turns olive and the surface blisters. The onion goes beside them, cut thick, allowed to char. That black edge is flavor. The slime cooks off. The flesh softens. The cactus tastes like itself.
I learned this version from a woman in Milpa Alta who sold nopales by the kilo and corrected every customer who asked for the smallest paddles. For salad, yes. For the comal, no. You want medium paddles, firm and meaty, so they don't collapse before they blister. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. They know before the cookbook knows.
Serve them with lime, sal de grano, and salsa de chile serrano from the molcajete if you want heat. If you don't, leave the chile alone. Not all Mexican food is a dare. This is a 32-state cuisine, and this plate belongs to the central highlands, where cactus is daily food, not decoration.
Nopal has been eaten in central Mexico since pre-Columbian times and appears in Mexica iconography tied to the founding of Tenochtitlan, the eagle on the cactus that remains on Mexico's flag. Milpa Alta became one of the capital's major nopal-producing zones in the 20th century, supplying markets across Ciudad de México with tender paddles grown in volcanic soil. The comal method is older than restaurant grilling: dry heat removes the cactus mucilage while concentrating the vegetable's clean, green flavor.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh nopales
Quantity
8 medium
thorns removed, edges trimmed
white onion
Quantity
1 large
cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds
pork lard (manteca de cerdo) or neutral oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
for seasoning the comal
sal de grano
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more for serving
limes
Quantity
2
halved
fresh chile serrano
Quantity
3
stemmed
garlic clove
Quantity
1 small
unpeeled
fresh cilantro
Quantity
1/4 cup
chopped
hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warmed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh nopalesthorns removed, edges trimmed | 8 medium |
| white onioncut into 1/2-inch thick rounds | 1 large |
| pork lard (manteca de cerdo) or neutral oilfor seasoning the comal | 2 tablespoons |
| sal de grano | 1 teaspoon, plus more for serving |
| limeshalved | 2 |
| fresh chile serranostemmed | 3 |
| garlic cloveunpeeled | 1 small |
| fresh cilantrochopped | 1/4 cup |
| hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)warmed | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Cast iron comal or heavy carbon steel skillet
- •Small sharp knife for cleaning nopales
- •Volcanic stone molcajete and tejolote
- •Clay platter or shallow cazuela for serving
Instructions
- 1
Clean the nopales
Lay each nopal flat on a board. Hold the stem end with a towel and scrape away any remaining thorns with a small knife, working away from your hand. Trim the tough edge all the way around. Rinse quickly and dry well. Wet nopales on a comal steam first, and that is not what you want.
- 2
Score and salt
Score each nopal with three or four shallow diagonal cuts on both sides. Do not cut through. The cuts help the heat enter and let the mucilage cook off faster. Sprinkle with sal de grano and let them sit while the comal heats.
- 3
Heat the comal
Set a cast iron comal or heavy skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water jumps on contact. Rub the surface with a thin film of manteca de cerdo. Not a puddle. Just enough to season the iron and help the first blistering. La manteca es el sabor, but the cactus should not fry.
- 4
Char the onion
Place the onion rounds on the hot comal. Cook 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the edges are blackened in spots and the center softens but still holds together. Move them to the cooler edge of the comal while the nopales cook. Char is not neglect. Burned to ash is neglect. Learn the difference.
- 5
Roast the nopales
Lay the nopales on the hot comal in a single layer. Cook 5 to 7 minutes on the first side, pressing lightly with a spatula so the surface touches the iron. Turn and cook 5 to 7 minutes more. They are ready when the color shifts from bright green to olive, the surface blisters, and the flesh bends without breaking.
- 6
Make the salsa
While the nopales finish, char the chile serrano and unpeeled garlic on an open spot of the comal. The chiles should blister all over, and the garlic skin should darken. Peel the garlic. Crush the garlic and serranos in a molcajete with a pinch of sal de grano, then stir in the chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime. This is a sharp table salsa, not a sauce bath.
- 7
Serve hot
Pile the nopales and charred onion on a warm clay platter. Squeeze lime over the top and finish with a little more sal de grano. Serve with the serrano salsa and warm corn tortillas. Eat them beside carne asada, eggs, beans, or nothing at all. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Chef Tips
- •Buy medium nopales, not the tiny tender ones. Tiny paddles are for ensalada de nopales. On the comal they go limp too fast. Medium paddles have enough body to blister and stay meaty.
- •If the nopales are already slimy in the bag, don't buy them. Fresh paddles should be firm, bright green, and clean-smelling, with no dark wet spots.
- •A molcajete salsa tastes different from blender salsa. For this dish, the rough crushed serrano matters because it clings to the cactus in little bursts. No me vengas con atajos when the tool is sitting right there.
- •Use corn tortillas here. Flour tortillas belong to northern traditions, and this plate is from the central highlands. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Advance Preparation
- •The nopales can be cleaned and trimmed up to one day ahead. Wrap them in a clean towel and refrigerate. Do not salt them until just before cooking.
- •The serrano salsa is best made right before serving, but it can sit for one hour at room temperature without losing its bite.
- •Leftover roasted nopales keep refrigerated for two days. Chop them into eggs or beans the next morning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 270g)
Calories
260 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
5 mg
Sodium
620 mg
Total Carbohydrates
39 g
Dietary Fiber
9 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
7 g
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