Why it works: Oyster and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,233 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Boiled Cod
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Fill a fish kettle with water and add coarse sea salt.
Bring the water to a hard boil.
Cook
Carefully add the cod to the boiling water.
Cover and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
If desired, crimp the cod before boiling.
Serve
Pour oyster sauce over the fish before serving.
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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Oyster + saucetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,233 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cod
- Its protein sets as it cooks, turning the flesh firm and flaky.
- Oyster sauce
- Adds a salty, savoury flavour to the mild fish.
The step that matters
Carefully add the cod to the boiling water. Lowering the fish into water that is already at a hard boil helps the water stay near boiling, so the cod cooks evenly. Handling it gently keeps the flesh from breaking 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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