Culture | World in a dish

Lucky new-year foods embody a benign view of good fortune

Steam a fish for abundance, and make sure there are leftovers

“WHY STEAM fish”, asked Andy Ricker, an author and restaurateur who ran several acclaimed Thai restaurants in America, “when you can batter chunks and immerse them in hot oil? When you can grill it over charcoal?” As he discovered while travelling around Thailand, one answer is that steamed fish can be delicious. A recipe Mr Ricker developed includes ginger, spring onions, celery leaves and oyster mushrooms, which bolster the pure marine sweetness of the fish without contamination by the taste of oil or smoke. Another reason is that, in the right context, steamed fish can be lucky.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “More fish in the sea”

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From the February 5th 2022 edition

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