Mexican Ingredients

How to peel and eat cactus fruit

252 · Dec 29, 2019 · 2 Comments

Cactus fruit, also know as cactus pear or prickly pear, comes from the nopal cactus.

Native to Mexico, the nopal cactus is sometimes called prickly pear cactus, but the plant’s Latin name is Opuntia. In Spanish, cactus fruit are called tunas. The fruit grows on the rounded edges of cactus paddles and has a thick skin covered in small spines. Once cut open, you’ll see they have a soft, juicy meat inside with lots of dark, round seeds.

How to cut and peel cactus fruit

Using a sharp knife, cut the two ends of the fruit, making sure to cut all the way through to the flesh. Stand the fruit on one side and make a vertical cut through the skin (it’s OK if you cut into the flesh a bit). With your finger or the tip of the knife, lift a corner of the skin where you made the vertical cut and use your fingers to peel the skin away from the fruit. Discard the skin.

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How to choose a ripe avocado

37 · Feb 4, 2018 · Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever struggled with finding a ripe avocado in the grocery store, here are my foolproof tips to make sure you never buy unripe avocados by mistake again.

Avocado is a very versatile ingredient in Mexican cuisine. And although most people think of avocado just as a savory ingredient, you can use it for sweet recipes, too. Aside from typical recipes like guacamole and salsa verde with avocado, this fruit is also great for making avocado paletas, avocado fudge pops, and avocado chocolate pudding.

With so many potential uses, you’ll want to ensure you always have avocados on hand. But when it comes to choosing a ripe Haas avocado, there are a few cardinal rules to follow.

DO

Evaluate the avocado’s skin color and texture, and remove the stem to determine ripeness.

DON’T

Squeeze the avocado. There’s a difference between using your fingers to gently feel if the skin gives—indicating softness—and squeezing it, which can damage the flesh inside, and in some cases, break the outer skin.
Put avocado in the refrigerator before they’re ripened.

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Guide to Mexican limes

34 · Oct 10, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Mexican limes are widely used in the cuisine and offer a bright, acidic touch to food and beverages.

All limes pictured in this post are Mexican limes.

Lime juice is an indispensable part of Mexican cuisine. It’s used in everything from beverages to dressing ceviche, soups, salads, fruit and vegetables, meats, in desserts and more. And it’s not just the juice; lime zest also makes its way into plenty Mexican recipes as well.

The limón chico (also known as limoncito or limón de Colima) is what most people think of when they think of Mexican limes. They generally measure between 2.5 and 5 centimeters in diameter, are more round (rather than oval) with thin, bright green skin, greenish-yellow pulp, have small seeds, and a very acidic flavor. As they age, the skin turns yellow and the flavor bitter when they’re over-ripened.

Known as limón grande or limón sin semilla, the larger Mexican limes do not have seeds….