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Halibut Steak

Halibut steaks are coated in eggs and breadcrumbs, then fried or broiled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Halibut Steak

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and dry the halibut steaks.

  2. Beat the eggs in a bowl.

  3. Crush the hard crackers into fine crumbs.

  4. Season the fish with salt and pepper.

  5. Dip each steak into the beaten eggs, then coat with the bread crumbs.

Cook and serve

  1. Fry the coated steaks in hot lard or drippings until golden brown.

  2. Alternatively, broil the steaks on a buttered grill over a clear fire.

  3. Once cooked, place the steaks in a hot dish, butter them well, and cover closely.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the crumb coating so it adheres to the fish during cooking.
Hard crackers
Form a crisp, browned crust around the steak as it cooks.
Butter
Adds richness and flavour to the finished steaks.
Lard or drippings
Conducts heat for frying and browns the coating to a golden crust.

The step that matters

Frying the coated steaks in hot fat. If the fat is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy before it browns. Hot fat sets the egg and crumb crust quickly, sealing in moisture so the fish stays tender inside.

“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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