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To Boil Salt Fish

A boiled salt fish dish seasoned with vinegar and horseradish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and horseradish are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,609 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

To Boil Salt Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Cook

  1. Soak the salt fish in water as directed.

  2. In a pot, boil the soaked fish slowly in water.

  3. Add vinegar and shredded horseradish to the pot.

Serve

  1. Once cooked, serve the fish garnished with horseradish or egg sauce.

  2. Optionally, garnish with boiled parsnips.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Vinegar + horseradishtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Fish + horseradishtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together178 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

  3. Fish + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,036 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Salt fish
Salt-cured fish is the main ingredient, providing savoury flavour and a firm, flaky texture when cooked.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the saltiness of the fish.
Shredded horseradish
Contributes a pungent, sharp aroma and heat that cuts through the richness of the fish.

The step that matters

Boil the fish slowly. Vigorous boiling toughens fish proteins and can break the flesh apart. A gentle simmer cooks the fish evenly while keeping it tender and intact.

Swap the horseradish

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, vinegar):

  1. Cucumberfits better
  2. Mustardfits about as well
  3. Horseradishthe original
  4. Capsicumfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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