Fish with Fennel — The Bridge Between Here and There

The Iloilo Fund update: I counted it this week. Sitting at my kitchen table with a calculator and a bank statement, the particular exercise of a woman who has been saving for a dream for years and periodically checks the math to see if the dream is affordable yet. The fund is growing — not fast, not on a nurse's salary, but growing. The growth is a slope that intersects with the line labeled "trip cost" at some point in the future, and the point is getting closer. The pandemic delayed it. The vaccine accelerated it. The math is trending right.

I will go to the Philippines. I will stand in the market in Iloilo where Lourdes grew up. I will eat adobo that someone else's mother made. I will see the kitchen where Reynaldo proposed with tamarind. I will go. Not this year — the ER, the family, the timing. But soon. The soon is getting sooner. The soon has a shape now, an outline, the beginning of a plan rather than the end of a wish.

I wrote a blog post about the trip I haven't taken yet — the imagined Philippines, the market I see in my head, the adobo I've never tasted but know by heart because Lourdes described it, because Reynaldo invented his recipes in conversation with it, because the food I cook every day is the echo of a kitchen I've never stood in. The post was the most personal thing I've written since the pandemic isolation pieces. Seven thousand views. Readers who have their own unfound kitchens, their own untasted adobos, their own Iloilos. The shared yearning. The together-in-wanting.

I made Reynaldo's salmon sinigang. The recipe that is the bridge between here and there, between Alaska and Iloilo, between the kitchen I'm in and the kitchen I'm going to. One more squeeze. Always one more squeeze. The squeeze is the prayer. The prayer is the trip. The trip is coming.

Making Reynaldo’s salmon sinigang reminded me that the best fish dishes are the ones that feel like a conversation across distance — between here and somewhere you haven’t stood yet. When the sinigang was gone and the fund math was still warm in my head, I wanted to keep that thread going with something quieter but just as intentional: fish with fennel, bright and clean, the kind of dish that asks you to slow down and taste where you are while you plan where you’re going. It’s not Iloilo, but the lemon, the anise, the sizzle of fish in a pan — it’s another squeeze, another prayer, another step toward soon.

Fish with Fennel

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 salmon fillets (about 6 oz each), skin on
• 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 lemon, half juiced and half sliced into rounds
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Season the fish. Pat salmon fillets dry with paper towels. Season both sides with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the black pepper. Set aside at room temperature for 5 minutes while you prepare the fennel.
2. Soften the fennel. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8–10 minutes until softened and lightly golden at the edges. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. Sear the salmon. Increase heat to medium-high. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the same skillet. Place salmon fillets skin-side down and cook without moving for 4–5 minutes, until the skin is crispy and the flesh is opaque about two-thirds of the way up the sides.
4. Flip and build the sauce. Carefully flip the salmon. Add the white wine and broth to the pan and return the softened fennel around the fillets. Lay the lemon rounds over the fish. Cook for 3–4 minutes more, until the salmon is just cooked through and flakes easily.
5. Finish with butter and lemon. Remove the pan from heat. Add the butter and squeeze the lemon juice over everything. Swirl the pan gently until the butter melts into the sauce.
6. Serve. Plate the salmon over the fennel, spoon the pan sauce on top, and garnish with reserved fennel fronds and fresh parsley. Serve immediately with crusty bread or steamed rice to catch the sauce.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 390 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 21g | Carbs: 8g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 520mg