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 and fry
Clean the frying pan and add enough oil to fully immerse the fish.
Heat the oil until it reaches a high temperature; test by dipping a piece of bread.
Once ready, lightly place the egg and breaded fish in the oil.
Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, then gently turn the fish with flat tongs.
Make the gravy
For fish gravy, remove some fat after frying, add a little flour, and pour in boiling water.
Stir well as it boils for about a minute; add vinegar if desired.
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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Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Fish + eggtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,782 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + vinegartop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,672 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
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, cooked through by frying in hot oil.
- Egg
- Binds the bread crumb coating so it adheres to the fish.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden coating that browns in the hot oil.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy by absorbing the fat and boiling water.
The step that matters
Heating the oil to a high temperature. If the oil is not hot enough, the coating absorbs more oil and becomes greasy instead of crisp, while the fish cooks unevenly. Testing with a piece of bread helps confirm the oil is ready before the fish goes in.
“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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