Reply #1: Every spring all the main stream supermarkets here carry nopalitos [View All]

[Warpy]

They're the small, young blades of paddle cactus. The store even tries to despine them, although careful handling with leather gloves and final spine shaving is necessary.

If you ever find them, the process is despining them, cutting off the tough outer edge, and then cutting them into strips. They suffer from the same slime problem that okra does: parboiling and grilling will both remove a great deal of it.

The above recipe looks like it would work very well for fresh nopalitos. This post tells you how to prepare them.

The large blades of cactus are nopales and are better cooked and served hot as a vegetable, IMO.