Cantonese-Style Fish for Lunar New Year

Good morning. We’re 10 days out from Lunar New Year, and if I’m going to make good on my promise to serve Kenji López-Alt’s Cantonese-style steamed fish (above) alongside noodles and dumplings, I’m going to have to start practicing today.

Here’s why. I’ve had the dish many times in restaurants. But I’ve never made it at home. And I believe in the old, familiar refrain: Don’t ever make a celebratory dish for the first time on the occasion of the celebration itself. Getting my steamer basket going this weekend, figuring out whether I’d prefer black sea bass or porgy, working out the hot-oil situation at the end — these are all pleasant, exciting things to do on an anonymous Sunday the day before a national holiday. There’s no pressure. Only the exploration of technique. I can’t wait.

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Cantonese-Style Steamed Fish

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And with Sunday sorted, I can turn to the rest of the week. …

Monday

Having followed a recipe closely on a Sunday, I’d like to start the week off with a riff: my no-recipe recipe for bulgogi-style tofu, which you can alter to make your own. (Readers have provided some excellent notes on it, should you seek advice on the freedom of improvisation.)

Tuesday

Lidey Heuck’s porcupine meatballs, which take their name from the spikes of rice that stick out of the meat, are a Depression-era dinner designed to stretch a small amount of protein into a meal. I like them as a way to use up rice left over from my bulgogi dinner. Don’t stint on the sauce, which is ambrosial.

Wednesday

I admire Hetty Lui McKinnon’s recipe for soy sauce noodles for a couple of reasons. First, because she uses cabbage in place of the usual bean sprouts and chives, which adds a wonderful crisp texture to the silky noodles. And second, because she puts fried eggs on top, which makes the dish substantial enough for a midweek dinner.

Thursday

Alexa Weibel developed this marvelous recipe for a creamy white bean soup with spicy paprika oil. It’s a classic pantry meal of canned beans and spice-rack flavoring that purées into elegant, creamy white velvet. Top with croutons if you like, and absolutely with the spicy paprika oil, a kind of Western version of Chinese chile oil.

Friday

And then you can head into the weekend with Yasmin Fahr’s new recipe for roasted salmon with an avocado and cilantro salad. It’s colorful, packed with flavor and an easy win: Make the salad while the salmon’s roasting under a blanket of coriander, garlic and slices of lime, then serve with couscous or rice.

If those don’t appeal, mouse your way over to New York Times Cooking and make your own list. You need a subscription to do that, of course. Subscriptions are the wind in our sails. If you haven’t taken one out yet, would you please consider subscribing today? Thanks so much.

Write to us at [email protected] if you have questions about your account. Someone will get back to you. Or write to me at [email protected] to register your fury about something, or to say something nice about my colleagues. I can’t respond to every letter. But I read every one I get.

Now, you’d have to drive a long and potholed road to make it have anything to do with food, but I’m still going to recommend that you read Chris Crowley in The Baffler, on why there are so many Australians in Brooklyn. “Like so many stories do,” he wrote, “this one starts with a war.”

The cookbook author and television personality Nathalie Dupree died this week at 85. She was a singular talent in the kitchen and, especially, in conversation. Kim Severson wrote her obituary for The Times. Here’s Nathalie’s recipe for a Liberty cobbler. And here’s a story I reported about country captain out of Charleston, S.C., with a terrific quote from her at the end. Nathalie Dupree was one of the great ones.

In The Washington Post, Sydney Page introduced Brodie, a dog with a misshapen head who has become something of an internet celebrity. Amanda Richter, the woman who adopted him, told Page he’s “just a spunky partially blind rescue pup who looks a bit like a Picasso masterpiece.” Click. You’ll see.

Finally, some housekeeping. In Friday’s newsletter I wrote that Lorne Michaels has produced “Saturday Night Live” for 50 uninterrupted years. In fact, he was off the show from 1980 to 1985. It’s still an incredible run. Watch some skits and I’ll be back next week.