Skip to main content
Main

Filled Fish

A whole fish stuffed with bread, almonds, eggs, herbs, and spices, then boiled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Kaufman, Nettie M · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Filled Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Clean the fish, leaving the head on, and remove the skin while keeping the head attached to the skin.

  2. Remove all meat from the bones, ensuring no bones remain in the meat.

Make the stuffing

  1. Chop the meat finely and boil it.

  2. Add the soaked bread slice, blanched almonds, chopped parsley, pepper, ginger, salt, and a small grated onion to the boiled meat.

  3. Mix the mixture with four eggs and refill the fish skin with it.

Poach and serve

  1. Prepare a kettle with boiling water, adding salt, a dash of vinegar, and chopped carrots.

  2. Place the fish carefully in the kettle and boil for about 40 minutes.

  3. Handle the fish gently to avoid breaking it.

  4. Add 1 cup milk and yolks of 3 eggs to some of the fish boiling water.

  5. Season to taste and serve cold.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

927Calories
48 gProtein
28 gFat
116 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Salmon100g cooked208
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Kaufman, Nettie M. 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. See the original page.

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  4. Bread + fishtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  5. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the stuffing and set firm when cooked, holding the filling together inside the skin.
Bread
Soaked bread adds moisture and softness, keeping the stuffing tender rather than dense.
Blanched almonds
Add texture and a rich, nutty bite to the stuffing.
Milk
Adds moisture and creaminess to the poaching liquid and the egg mixture.
Fish
The main protein, which firms as it poaches and carries the stuffing.

The step that matters

Poach the fish gently. Vigorous boiling makes the delicate fish break apart and lets the stuffing escape. Keeping the water at a gentle simmer lets the proteins set slowly so the fish stays whole.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, vinegar, bread, egg, fish, parsley, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits about as well
  3. Potatofits about as well
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, vinegar, bread, egg, fish, parsley, 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.

More stuffed fish recipes

Baked 14Fillets 3 See all 8 →

You might also like

Brown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesCarrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipesFried FishFried Fish120 recipesFish CroquettesFish Croquettes81 recipes