Name: Fried Carp
Ingredients: a carp 2,5- 3 kg ,; 2 kg of onions,; 250 gr of dried plums,; 1 sour apple,; 1 quince,; 1 small spoon of red pepper,; tomato purée, 125 gr,; 1 spoon of sugar,; 4 spoons of wine vinegar,; 3 spoons of flour,; 2 glasses of water,; salt as needed,; half a litre of oil.

Why it works: Apple and quince work together. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 506 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

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.

Apple + quincetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together506 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Plum + appletop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together404 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Plum + quincetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together92 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Plum + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,480 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Carp: The main protein; salting and frying firm its surface before it is covered with the sauce.
Onions: Softened in oil they add sweetness and body to the sauce base.
Dried plums: Add sweetness and a fruity depth that balances the vinegar.
Flour: Thickens the sauce so it clings to the fish instead of running off.
Tomato purée: Adds concentrated tomato flavour, colour and body to the sauce.
Wine vinegar: Adds acidity that sharpens the sweet and fruity flavours of the sauce.

The step that matters

Pour the sauce over the fried carp and bake. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the fish. Flour thickens only as it heats and the fish must be well browned first, so pouring too early or with a thin sauce leaves it watery and soft.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (plum, apple, quince, pepper, tomato, sugar, wine):

Capsicumfits better
Cucumberfits better
Carrotfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against plum, apple, quince, pepper, tomato, sugar, wine. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Carp	not in our table	0
Quince	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Fried Carp

Fried Carp

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

Make the sauce

Bake and serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)