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
Clean and wipe the fish dry.
Rub the fish with dry sifted flour.
Dip the fish into the beaten eggs, then coat with bread crumbs or rolled crackers.
Fry and serve
Heat enough dripping in a frying pan to cover the fish.
Fry the fish on both sides until golden brown.
Sprinkle lightly with pepper and coarse sea salt as it turns brown.
Serve in a hot dish.
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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg 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
- Flour
- Dry flour coating helps the egg and crumb layer stick to the fish.
- Eggs
- Beaten eggs bind the bread crumbs or crackers to the fish surface.
- Bread crumbs or rolled crackers
- Form a crisp, golden crust during frying.
- Dripping
- Hot fat conducts heat to the coating, driving browning and crispness.
The step that matters
Fry the fish on both sides until golden brown. Frying in enough hot fat browns the coating quickly, sealing in moisture so the fish cooks through without drying out. Fat that is too cool lets the coating absorb oil and turn greasy.
“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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