Sonoran Chicken with Nopales
This recipe makes use of nopales cooked sous vide—under vacuum, a technique from the professional kitchen that I’ve modified here for home cooks (see also Nopales en Bolso with Vegetables Escabeche, page 28). Nopales—cactus leaves—have a wonderful texture and fresh flavor almost like fresh green beans or green squash. In Mexico, they grow wild everywhere, available for the picking. The most amazing place to see nopales is at the central market of Mexico City, one of the truly great markets of the world. Arranged in circles are huge, round burlap bags, five feet tall by four feet wide. Each bag holds hundreds of nopales, and workers handle sixty to seventy-five bags simultaneously. Women whittle away at mountains of nopales with long, sharp knives, trimming off their sharp spines in seconds while gossiping with their neighbors, stopping only to sell to shoppers. The enormous amount of nopales sold underscores how important they are to the daily diet.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 8 tacos
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
To cook the nopales, fill a large pot halfway with water and heat it over medium heat until it reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. Place the nopales, lime juice, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, pepper, thyme, and water in a large, heavy-duty (freezer-weight) self-sealing plastic bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible and then completely seal the bag. Place the bag in hot water and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the bag from the water and let sit in an ice bath until cool. When cooled, empty the contents of the plastic bag into a strainer set over a bowl, reserving the cooled nopales strips and discarding the liquid and thyme sprigs.
Step 2
In a spice grinder, grind together the toasted coriander and cumin seed, the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, chile powder, and toasted pumpkin seeds to a fine powder. Transfer to a flat dish and combine with the lemon-infused oil and lemon zest. Dredge the chicken breasts in the seasoning mixture.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large, heavy skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Sauté the seasoned breasts on both sides until lightly browned and slightly crusty, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. The breasts will brown quickly, so watch them carefully as they cook.
Step 4
Transfer the browned chicken breasts to a baking sheet and bake until they are thoroughly cooked, but not dry, about 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and slice the breasts crosswise on the diagonal into 1/3-inch-thick pieces.
Step 5
To serve, lay the tortillas side by side, open face and overlapping on a platter. Divide the lettuce and chicken strips equally between the tortillas and top with nopales strips, grated radish, cheese, and salsa. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco: lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some lettuce and chicken, top with nopales, grated radish, cheese, and salsa, fold, and eat right away.
