Why it works: Fish and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,668 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Fried Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Season the egg with salt and beat it well.
Dip the fish in the seasoned egg.
Coat the fish in grated bread, making it as fine as cornmeal.
Fry
Heat deep lard in a frying basket.
Fry the fish until it is a rich brown color.
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.
-
Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Parsley + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,588 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Fish + parsleytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,341 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Binds the grated bread coating to the fish and helps it stick during frying.
- Grated bread
- Forms a crisp, browned crust that protects the fish while it fries.
- Fish
- The main ingredient, cooked through by frying while the coating crisps.
- Deep lard
- Conducts heat evenly and browns the coating through frying.
The step that matters
Frying the fish until a rich brown. Frying at a steady, hot temperature sets and browns the coating quickly, so the crust crisps before the fish overcooks. Too cool a fat lets the coating absorb oil and turn greasy.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, egg, bread):
- Capersfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, egg, bread. 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 fried fish recipes
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
Fish Croquettes81 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Scalloped Cod69 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.