salmon, and more salmon

I may seems to the readers that most of my meals in the last 2 weeks were frequently salmon than anything else. It gave that impression because I haven't been writing about other dishes I made.

I loved watercress even as a child. I like how it is chewy and your parents would tell you any vegetable that is fibrous is good for the digestive system.

Most Asian prefer vegetable with a hint of bitterness, and watercress fits that bill. It is tasty and the slight bitterness makes it that much more interesting. For the longest time I always use watercress in a broth or soup. Only in recent years I thought of stir frying it. Now I do both.


In my grocery shopping this week I bought 3 bundles. Watercress is in season now and they are tender and not woody.

For this nice piece of Chinook salmon belly I serve it with a sizeable bed of stir fried watercress.

here are 3 bundles of watercress - at $0.79 / bundle

I used less than a bundle for this meal. I just stir fried it with sliced garlic, fresh ground black pepper, and a dash of thai fish sauce. The salmon is simply seared in a small pan with the skin intact. If I do it just right I can create a crispy crust on the meat and the skin without overcooking the meat inside.

The belly cut released a lot of goodness salmon oil. I pour in some sliced scallion to briefly fry them. That enhances the fragrance of the scallion and soaked up all the salmon fat.

i cannot get tire of eating this months on end - and the entire dish cost under $4

a bonus teaser - i ate 1.2 lb of these live pacific spotted shrimp also yesterday; i came across the last of the batch at my fish monger; these shrimps has so much umami that it taste almost sugar cane sweet