Why it works: Pepper and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,459 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fried Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and split or cut the fish into serving pieces.
Season the fish well with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Dredge the fish in flour.
Fry
Heat a skillet with ½ cup of Crisco and ½ cup of lard until hot.
Place the fish in the hot grease.
Fry until a golden brown crust forms, then turn the fish.
Fry the other side until golden brown, then remove from the skillet.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,948 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Fish + flourtop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,532 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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, cooking through while its outside crisps.
- Flour
- Forms a coating that browns and crisps in the hot fat.
- Crisco
- Conducts heat evenly and fries the coating to a golden crust.
- Lard
- Adds fat that browns the coating and gives a rich flavor.
The step that matters
Placing the fish in the hot grease. If the fat is not hot enough, the flour coating absorbs oil and turns greasy instead of forming a crisp, golden crust. Wait until the fat is fully hot before adding the fish.
“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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