Cactus juice may seem peculiar for some people. However, this has been in the Mexican menu for a long time. Recently, there have been studies confirming that the cactus juice is beneficial for human health. There are so many health benefits of the juice that this cactus species has become one few of the super foods. When we talk about the cactus juice here, we talk about the prickly pear cactus.
To get the cactus extract of the spines, you can use this method below:
- Make sure that you wear protective gloves to cover your hands. After all, we are going to be in direct contact with cactus, a plant known to have so many thorns. You can use either rubber or leather gloves. These materials are among the hardest ones so that the cactus thorns would not pierce the hands.
- At the outside of the cactus, apply a long strip of tape carefully. Use tape ducts to mark the along the bottom of the cactus so that it creates a straight line which does not overlap one another.
- Quickly remove the tape off. Do not pull too hard or too fast because this will cause the cactus to topple over. Instead, use the right amount of energy just to remove the needles from the cactus.
- Take out the spines with a pair or knife or pliers. Use one hand to steady the cactus and the other to dig it. Gradually, you can take out the cactus.
- Wash the cactus and lightly scrub the pads by using a potato brush under running lukewarm water. This way, any dirt or sand will be removed from the exterior of the pad. However, if you scrub too hard, you will pierce the pad and some of the juice may leak out.
- Place the cactus pad on a flat counter, then cut away any pad parts that are bruised by using small but sharp knife.
- Place the pads to a bowl that is large enough to contain it. The mouth of the bowl should also be large enough so that you can work with the pads that are now inside the bowl.
- Use a hammer with flat top, the one that is usually used to tenderized meat to tenderize the pads and crush out some of the juice. Continue until the pads are broken thoroughly.
- Strain the juice so that you will leave the large pieces on the strainer.
