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Corned Fish

A preserved fish cured with salt, sugar, saltpeter, and spices, then canned and processed.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Corned Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Scale the fish, cut off the heads, split down the back, and clean.

  2. Wipe dry without washing.

  3. Mix salt, brown sugar, and powdered saltpeter.

  4. Rub the mixture inside and out of the fish.

  5. Pile the fish skin side down in tanks and weigh them down.

  6. Let them sit for 48 to 60 hours, depending on thickness.

  7. Wash the fish.

  8. Drain the fish.

  9. Cut to can size.

  10. Place in cans.

Make the pickling liquid

  1. Soak the pepper, cloves, and bay leaves in vinegar for 48 hours or more.

  2. In a kettle, combine water, salt, and onions.

  3. Bring to a boil.

  4. Cook for 30 minutes.

  5. Add the vinegar and spices.

  6. Boil for one minute.

  7. Strain the mixture.

Seal and process

  1. Cap the cans.

  2. Tip the cans.

  3. Process at 240°F for 30 minutes for 1 lb. cans and 45 minutes for 2 lb. cans.

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. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Clove + oniontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,901 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  4. Vinegar + oniontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish
Forms the main body of the product, so its firm flesh holds shape through curing and processing.
Salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the fish, helping preserve it during the curing stage.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the salt during curing.
Powdered saltpeter
Helps the fish keep its pink color during curing.
Vinegar
Adds acidity to the pickling liquid, giving the finished fish its tangy flavor.
Onions
Add aroma and savory flavor to the cooking liquid.

The step that matters

Processing the sealed cans. Processing must reach the stated temperature for the full time to heat the contents safely and destroy harmful microorganisms. Shortening the time or skipping the tipping and capping steps can leave the cans under-processed.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Horseradishfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, sugar, vinegar, clove, pepper. 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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