Why it works: Fish and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,782 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Boiled Bass
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the fish in cold water.
Place the fish in a saucepan and cover it with cold water.
Add 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt to the water.
Boil and serve
Heat the saucepan over medium heat until it reaches a boil.
Boil the fish slowly for about 5 minutes.
Check if a fin pulls out easily; if so, remove the fish carefully.
Lay the fish on a folded napkin on a platter.
Surround the fish with 6 hard-boiled eggs.
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 + eggtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,782 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bass
- The main protein, which cooks gently in simmering water to stay moist and tender.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Served alongside the fish as a mild, firm accompaniment that adds protein to the platter.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the poaching water so the fish is flavoured from the outside in.
The step that matters
Boil the fish slowly for about 5 minutes. Gentle simmering cooks the fish evenly, while a hard rolling boil can toughen the proteins and break the flesh apart.
“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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