Why it works: Fish and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,488 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Boiled Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean and wash the fish in plenty of cold water.
Add a little salt to the water to assist in cleaning and firming the fish.
Remove the fins and eyes from smaller fish like haddock, whiting, soles, or mackerel.
Cook
Place the fish in hot water (not boiling).
Add salt and vinegar to taste.
Cook for about 10 minutes per pound, or 15 minutes longer for larger fish.
Do not allow the fish to boil fast; a slow boil is best.
Carefully lift the fish out of the water.
Let the fish drain.
Serve
Serve on a hot platter with melted butter, parsley, egg sauce, or anchovy sauce.
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.
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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,513 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Fish + vinegartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Fish
- Forms the main body of the dish, and its flesh firms and turns opaque as it cooks.
- Vinegar
- Adds a light acidity that brightens the mild flavour of the poached fish.
The step that matters
Keep the water below a boil. A fast boil agitates the water and tears the delicate flesh, causing it to break apart. Gentle heat cooks the fish evenly and keeps it moist and intact.
“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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