Crispy Salmon Skin

Most people know of salmon fillets at the grocery store. These fillets are what most people are comfortable eating: huge boneless slabs of fish. However, my favorite parts of salmon are those parts typically discarded.

While doing some seafood shopping at Houston's 99 Ranch Market, I picked up a saran wrapped packaged labeled “salmon belly.” As the name implies, these are the chunks of salmon taken from the fatty underside of the fish. Salmon bellies come skin-on, full of bones, and glistening with fish fat. To my surprise, under the salmon bellies in this package were pieces of glorious salmon skin. These slivers of skin, which are typically discarded during the filleting process, have a thin layer of flesh and are used for those crispy salmon skin handrolls at sushi bars.


To cook the salmon skin slivers, simply panfry them skin side down in some oil for 6 minutes. Flip and cook for a minute just so the flesh side is browned. Sprinkle with some sea salt and freshly squeezed lemon. Serve with rice and vegetables and you’ll have a deliciously nutritious meal. With so many vitamin companies making so much money from selling capsules of fish oil, eating salmon skin is my way of sticking it to the vita-Man.

Caravanning to Caravelle

After partying like an Ox star at home, it was time to have a more intimate meal with just the family. So my wife and I met her mother, my parents and my brother at one of our favorite Chinese/Vietnamese restaurants in the DFW area, Caravelle. Like many Chinese restaurants, Caravelle was designed to double as a wedding venue. Its interior is a roomy dining hall dominated by large, round tables covered in white linen. A bird's-eye view of the mess hall would resemble a teeny weeny white polka-dot bikini. On the main wall are the requisite golden dragon and phoenix hanging above the 15'x15' wooden portion of the floor which doubles as the dance floor. But don't be fooled. Once the tables are cleared off the dance floor, nobody parties quite like a bunch of old Asian folks doing the Cha cha cha.


Our first dish was my favorite. On the menu, it reads as "lobster baked in cheese." However, it's actually chunks of lobster deep fried in some sort of cheese batter. For all I know, it could be dipped in Cheez Whiz and fried. Whatever the kitchen does to the lobster is nothing short of a work of art and I have never been disappointed with this dish, except that one time my younger cousins mutilated and discarded the large claws that were still packed with meat. The rich, salty cheese gives a similar effect of eating lobster with butter. However, the main difference is that this dish is much funner to eat, especially since other diners in the restaurant didn't leer at me for using my fingers. My strategy of attack starts with me going after the tail pieces, then the claws, and lastly the torso. Here's the play by play:

1. Using the chopsticks in my right hand and the fingers of my left, I tear out all the meaty morsels possible, devouring it with some fluffy white rice.
2. Using my razor-sharp incisors, I scrap all the fried cheesy goodness off the fiery-red shell.
3. Drink a large swallow of my beverage, preferably beer.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3.

I continue these steps until my area more resembles a lobster graveyard than a dining table. Unfortunately, I only get to eat this on special occassions, mainly because I could easily consume a whole plate by myself and eventually be scolded by both my wife and doctor. Only after we ran out of lobster did I continue onto the following dishes.


What's the best way to follow up some deep-fried yummies? More deep-fried yummies! These golden-brown cubes are another family favorite, stuffed tofu. Through a magical process that is akin to open-heart surgery, large hunks of silky smooth tofu were stuffed with minced shrimp. Once plump with meat, the cubes are deep-fried (maybe in the same oil as the lobster) and served to wide-eyed patrons. Though the stuffed tofu could have been a meal in of itself, eating it with some rice helped ameliorate the oiliness. After the involved process of eating the lobster, I welcomed some easy eating...until I burned the roof of my mouth. One thing I always forget about tofu is that it has the same characteristics of a styrofoam ice chest, meaning whatever you put inside remains at the same temperature. If you ever want to make a grown hungry man cry, feed him this fresh from the fryer.


By now, we were tired of deep-fried dishes and so went for this stir-fried plate. Like Matt McConaughey at UT football games, these beef noodles are a common site at our family meals. The dynamics of the ingredients started with the beef, which needs no further elaboration on its deliciousness. Next, the onions and bean sprouts added a nice crispness to make the dish seem healthier. Finally, the flat rice noodles were infused with all the juices from the beef, onions, and soy sauce. When placed infront of me, I can't help but smile.


In an effort to make the meal well-balance, we ordered this plate of mixed vegetables and tofu. The effort would have been successful had the dish not been stir-fried with enough oil to power a lantern. In all seriousness, this plate of veggies was just that, a plate of veggies. Not surprisingly, it was the last dish to be picked cleaned. In my family, food is like the US Army Rangers, no man left behind. We pride ourselves in not leaving with leftovers and we were very proud that night.

Skydiving into 1st Chinese BBQ

For my brother's birthday, he, I and some buddies went skydiving!!! I had been wanting to go for a long time and who better to dive with than my brother? By the way, that's not my brother to whom I'm attached, just in case you were wondering.

One thing about skydiving they don't tell you is that it's a lot like your favorite roller coaster. We were all excited, woke up before the sun rose, got there early just to wait. We waited for nearly two hours AFTER the instructional video. So from the time we got there to the time we jumped was nearly 4 hours. What a bummer. At least at Six Flags I could be munching on a corndog while I wait. No such luck here. By the time their little cafe opened, it was T minus 15 minutes on the launch sequence and I wanted to make sure the only thing projecting from me was the parachute.

So by the time we got back in town, it was well past lunch time and even the adrenaline rush couldn't fight off the grouchy monster and hunger demon. So we went straight to 1st Chinese BBQ for stuff our faces with roasted meat.


Their roast pork is tender, moist love wrapped in crispy happiness. It's slow roasted and then finished with a blow-torch to the skin. It's like a salty, meaty creme brulee.


Red is a suitable color for the sweet char siu (barbecued pork) since it represents the warmth the pork brought to our stomachs and hearts.


This is one of my favorite dishes, roasted duck. Unfortunately, this time they gave me mostly the bottom half of the bird so I didn't get to enjoy all that meaty goodness of the breasts. But at the time I was too hungry to send anything back.


To make ourselves feel better, we ordered a dish of ong choy (water spinach). Never mind that it was drenched in oil and possibly the fat drippings from all the roasted meat. It was green, leafy and teeming with garlic, which lots of health and anti-vampiric benefits.

So after waking up at 6:30 and fasting until 1:30, our skydiving meal was much like this blog...few words with the focus on the food.

The Mallard from Peking

Had dinner with my folks at Sing Kee. Like before, I ordered the ridiculously delicious sizzling bean curd. This time around, I also tried their Peking duck for the first time, but it won't be my last.


The skin was crispy and separated from the meat, which is due to air injected under the skin before cooking. The meat was moist, tender, and full of duckiness. It helped that the duck was mostly deboned and cautiously carved for easy access. I began by eating the duck without any of the sides but that soon became unctuous since I needed something to balance out the lardy mallard.


Here's the entire spread that comes with an order of Peking duck. From the back to the front are steamed buns, duck, hoisin sauce, cilantro and green onions. The buns, sometimes referred to as pancakes, function similar to a tortilla or hot-dog bun in that it folds over the other foods. They were served freshly steamed so that they're moist and soft. So how does assembly work? Well, it works kind of like taco night at home. You grab a bun, spread on some hoisin sauce, add as much meat or greens as you like and chow down.

I had a blast eating the duck but am told that there are places in Houston that make it better. Terrific! This further cements my belief that life is a series of little food quests.

Ooo Ooo Fu Fu

Hello, my friends, we meet again. Sorry for the delay in updates. Thanks to everyone who's been hanging in there.

The wife and I visited one of Houston's Bellaire Chinatown's fine dining establishments. I specify Bellaire Chinatown because according to the highway signs, the traffic officials still think Houston's Chinatown is near downtown. Despite being out of touch, I'm sure they're good people and they mean well. Any how, the wife had been here with a coworker, liked it and here we are interacting via a food blog.

I entered this dinner with high hopes since Fu Fu Cafe is situated in a strip mall and for those of you who don't already know, I'm a big fan of strip mall eateries. Though they're not always good, more likely than not they are enjoyable and occasionally exceptional. My theory is because these establishments spend their resources on the food and not the appearance or rent of stand-alone structures. Fu Fu is somewhere in between good and exceptional. Through the glass door you step directly into the dinning area which accommodates 40 diners, maybe 50 if the guests can tolerate little table area. Even with limited eating real estate, you would have to pass through a crowd of waiting famished as you put your name on the waiting "list," i.e., the server's/hostess' memory.

For our meal, we got soup dumplings and beef tendons with scallions. The dumplings I liked though they weren't as good as the ones I've had in NYC. The wrapping was overly thick and doughy for my tastes. The broth and pork filling inside was warm and flavorful. For those you haven't had soup dumplings, imagine a French-dip sandwich that, instead of dipping the sandwich, the au jus and meat were encased inside a water-proof bread crust. Like it sounds, not only would it be incredibly delicious, you would also have to eat it with extreme caution. Wow...I might have just come up with a great new food item. I'll have to experiment and get back to you. Oh, and for those of you who haven't had soup dumplings or a French dip, pat yourselves on the back for being cruel and negligent to your taste buds. Unfortunately, the yummy dumplings made for a poor foto.


For our main dish, we ordered the "beef tendons with scallions." What's funny is that I quoted the actual English menu entry but the Chinese version had about 20 characters. Just goes to show this place caters to Asians and Chinese illiteracy just means your dinner is like a box of chocolates. The beef tendons seem to have been slow simmered in broth and then flash stir-fried with fresh green onions when ordered. There's really no consistency with tendons since they can come from many joint of the cow. So some pieces were firm and chewy while other pieces were soft and edible sans teeth but all pieces of tendon had the subtle tendon flavor infused with the salty brown broth. The flash frying merely softened the onions, leaving a nice pungency to cut through the oily broth and gelatinous tendons. We ate this with white rice and smiled the whole time.

Since our first visit together, we've revisited Fu Fu, reordered these same dishes and received the same smiles.

Hurricane Ike Evacuation, part 5

On our sixth day as evacuees, we meet my brother and some close friends for lunch at an old favorite Chinese spot of ours called Sing Kee Chinese BBQ. The wife and I used to go here on dates during high school. Though we've eaten here a few times since then, it's been a good 3 years since our last visit. It was just like we remembered with the same tables, lazy Susans, and chairs. Actually, I think I saw the same soy sauce stain I made years ago on one of the booths. I kid of course. By no mean is the place romantic but it holds a soft spot in our hearts.


Our all-time favorite dish here is their "Sizzling bean curd with shrimp." I'm not sure why they opted with "bean curd" instead of "tofu." Possibly because many non-Asians cringe at the though of tofu; however, I'm not quite sure bean curd is a crowd-winner. Either way, anyone who thinks tofu is gross hasn't tasted this. These cubes of molded soybeans with a shrimp adhered one of the sides (I assume with shrimp adhesive) are battered and deep-fried, giving them a crunchy, doughy crust. When it's brought out, the server brings three items to the table: a plate of the tofu, a bowl of sauce, and a hot plate (AKA the Sizzler). Once at your table, the server transfers the tofu from the normal plate to the Sizzler and pours on the sauce. The resulting sound, steam, and aroma signifies that an angel got its wings. If all I had was this dish and rice, I'd be a happy foodie. The crispy-fried batter not only absorbs the sweetly salty sauce, it also holds the tender tofu together. I always burn my tongue on the first bite but I've always viewed it as a necessary sacrifice.


This time around I tried a new item, their lunch special #1, which was a noodle bowl with a little bit of all their Chinese BBQ offerings. There were a few wontons in addition to the BBQ chicken, duck, and pork. Though I enjoyed the dish, there wasn't anything particularly spectacular about it. The noodles and broth were your standard Chinese noodle fare. I ordered it because I was craving noodles and these satisfied my craving. I will say that the BBQ was well flavored and rich with fatty, oily goodness. For me, a strong believer that fat is flavor, this made the dish better than average. So no regrets on ordering it.

But if you ever try this place, definitely brave the bean curd.