Stir-Fried Watercress Topped with Bacon
DoT’s Thot: I realized a little while ago that mothers typically pass on family recipes through the learn-as-you-grow and in-my-mother’s-kitchen methods. Unfortunately for my sons, I did not make the transition to teaching my sons that way. They have had occasional cooking lessons and they are handy at Boy Scout campout cooking — basic fried rice, pasta, eggs and bacon, hamburgers, etc.
The calls to Mom about cooking have occurred and I now have the time to record some recipes. I have decided to amp up this blog’s section on the home cook front — not the culinary-schooled finesse stuff, but the nitty-gritty, got to feed the family cooking. This section is dedicated to recording requests from my sons and preserving family favorites as well as revisiting some childhood and adult favorites from Hawaii. In addition, I will add in some of my Indian flavored dishes (some are fairly authentic and some are modified to my taste. I am happy to report that this is because of requests from both sons — they happily want to learn to cook more.
Mom's Stir-fried Watercress Topped With Bacon
Family Favorite: Stir-Fried Watercress Topped with Bacon
One of the absolutely favorite family side dishes is stir-fried watercress topped with flavorful bacon pieces. Watercress is one of the very dark greens that cooks up quickly into a brightly colored, appealing vegetable and very easy to make. Watercress is in that class of deep-colored, healthful veggies, but we just like to eat this stuff.
Ingredients for Stir-fried Watercress Topped with Bacon
-
- 1 large Hawaiian bunch of watercress OR
- 2 or 3 small bunches of mainland (e.g., California) watercress
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 small bouillon cube
- 1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4-6 slices of bacon
Steps to Cooking Stir-fried Watercress Topped with Bacon
- Clean Watercress and cut into 2 inch pieces
- Cook bacon
-
- (I microwave mine)
- wrap in paper towels
- squeeze as much grease as you can out of the bacon
- chop into small pieces
- set aside
- Peel garlic cloves, cut and discard hard ends, slice thinly
- Put a wok on medium high and when heated add sesame and olive oils along with garlic
- When garlic sizzles and is translucent (30 seconds to a minute), add watercress
- Turn heat to high and add bouillon cube, smashing it on the bottom of the wok
- Stir fry on high until watercress is limp and very bright green (only takes a few minutes)
- Turn off the heat, transfer watercress, lifting it out of the water that comes out of the veggies
- Top with the chopped bacon and serve as a side dish or “okazu”
Cook’s Comments on Sitr-fried Watercress Topped with Bacon
If you are vegetarian, skip the bacon and chicken bouillon. Flavor with garlic adding salt and pepper. It is still a very nice veggie to eat as stir fry. Don’t overcook, because the watercress becomes dull in color and it does not improve anything.
Hope you enjoy the recipe. Aloha, DoT
Related Posts:
Long Bunches of Hawaiian Watercress and Short Bunches of California Watercress
Vegetarian Recipes: Star Anise Flavored Boiled Peanuts
