14 – APRIL 2020 PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAURA MURRAY
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Family Meal
The easiest steamed fish, spicy meatballs, and
more spring recipes to cook this month
You can make this in
a large saucepan,
Dutch oven, or donabe,
a Japanese clay pot.
A FEW YEARS AGO I made the game-changing decision to start buying fish not according to the recipes I’d
bookmarked but based on what looked best at the market. These days I almost never know whether I’ll end up with
salmon or black bass or halibut on any given night, but I always know how I’m going to cook it: by steaming,
a back-pocket technique that works with any fish. No method does a better job of letting the delicate flavor of the fish
itself really shine. The recipe on page 18 features a flavorful soy-ginger broth that creates a little steam-room
environment in the pot, resulting in a rich and flaky, never-dry fish. Call it my version of spa food. —CHRISTINA CHAEY
A layer of cabbage
and mushrooms
acts as a barrier
between the fish and
the pot (no steamer
basket required).
