Monday 8 June 2015

Eating Edible Cactus Leaf/Pad/Paddles For The First Time

12:45 p.m. 9 Jun Tues.

I just ate thick slices of it just now, after taking the cactus out of the fridge, skinning the top part & cutting across its width.

Tastes like a vegetable.  Like a cucumber.  Quite juicy and crunchy.  No wonder people compare it to green bell peppers. But I find it doesn't taste like bell pepper, but more like cucumbers.

Refreshing taste but does not quench thirst. It's not that juicy, although the water content is definitely in there.  The water content is enough to make me consider eating it as an after-jog refreshment.

Unexpectedly interesting & edible.  No particular flavor, just tastes like a vegetable. Definitely, it can be used in a salad or juiced with lemon & fridged.  I don't know how it'll turn out in a soup, although I imagine it would melt into the broth? Or taste like winter melon?

(Instructions say to cook it with chicken... *doubtful grimace* The company selling this should do a video.).

For vegetarians or fruitarians, the raw greeny taste is fine. But probably not for those into meat.  I'm used to the taste because I eat (organic) raw cucumbers, raw celery, raw tomato, raw beetroot, raw carrots etc....  (haven't tried raw asparagus yet).

When I cut it across its width, there are a few strange strands of fibers sticking out from the sides of the pith like steel reinforcements in concrete. I think they are called rods. Not sure if these are nascent spines. But it's just a few fibers that can be eaten together or just removed from the mouth while chewing.

The cactus is more interesting & easier to eat than Aloe Vera (which I find is a lot of work just to eat some & dangerous with the knife. I bought the Aloe at just S$0.82 for a rather large one.).  

Overall, interesting experiment. Cost only S$3.89 for a rather big slab of cactus (there were bigger).  But this cactus is different from those shown in videos and websites. The videos call them Nopal/Nopales and they are thin and flat like the pork cutlets from Shihlin Taiwan Street Snack.  Easily cut into thin strips with no rods sticking out from the pith.

The cactus I bought is thicker, fatter & tougher (& as mentioned, some rods in the pith) from a local Singapore farm that grows them. I'm actually thinking of visiting the farm for a look.

As of 3.30 p.m., I've eaten about half of the cactus. Bro saw me eating & said, "What's that? Cactus again?".

The way he says "cactus" is funny. :)  He's used to seeing me experimenting with odd things. Weird face masks which he says stink, and odd food & drinks.

I still haven't tried eating onion with ice cream yet. Edgar Benedict's suggestion (in Shadow Chasers).


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