Skip to main content
Main

Mock Fish Chops

A vegetarian fish substitute made from potatoes, carrots, and spices, formed into chops and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Henrietta Latham Dwight · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 17 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mock Fish Chops

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the potatoes

  1. Pare three good sized potatoes, cut fine and throw them into cold water to prevent them from turning dark.

  2. Drain the potatoes from the water and chop very fine; there must be two cupfuls.

  3. Have a cup of boiling milk in a saucepan and put the potatoes into it.

  4. Cook until tender but not soft, and be careful not to let them burn.

Make the mixture

  1. When done, add two generous heaping tablespoonfuls of butter, two heaping tablespoonfuls of French carrots (previously cooked in as little water as possible and chopped very fine), one heaping teaspoonful of green pepper, one heaping teaspoonful of grated onion, one heaping teaspoonful of parsley, a heaping saltspoonful of powdered mace, a dash of cayenne pepper, and salt to taste.

  2. Measure two tablespoonfuls of tomatoes (after all the water has been pressed from them), chop fine and add to the mixture one whole egg and one egg yolk beaten light.

  3. Stir this into the potato mixture while on the stove, remove at once from the fire.

  4. Add two heaping tablespoonfuls of cracker crumbs rolled fine, and two tablespoonfuls of fine Madeira or sherry.

Shape and fry

  1. Turnout to cool and then form into chops.

  2. Roll in egg and cracker crumbs and fry in boiling fat.

  3. Serve with cucumber salad.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

677Calories
23 gProtein
28 gFat
87 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 15 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cracker5 saltine crackers (15g)66
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Macenot 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 Henrietta Latham Dwight. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

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

  4. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  5. Carrot + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,606 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

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the chops and set firm enough to shape once cooled.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the potato mixture.
Egg
Binds the mixture so the chops hold their shape when fried.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb moisture and form a crisp, browned outer coating when fried.
Milk
Cooks the potatoes gently and keeps the mixture moist and creamy.
Madeira
Adds a sweet, aromatic flavour to the mixture.

The step that matters

Stir the egg into the hot potato mixture. Stirring the egg in while the mixture is still on the stove and then removing it at once lightly cooks the egg to bind the chops without scrambling it or drying the mixture.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, pepper, potato, butter, carrot, tomato, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, pepper, potato, butter, carrot, tomato, egg. 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.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesPotato CroquettesPotato Croquettes255 recipesCarrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipes