Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fried Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean the fish well and cut it into pieces about 2 by 4 inches.
Place the fish skin side down in a colander and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
Let it stand for 1 hour or up to half a day.
Fry
Heat the cooking fat in a frying pan until hot.
Roll the fish pieces in flour or cornmeal, then fry slowly until thoroughly cooked.
For extra flavor, dip the fish in beaten egg and roll in cracker crumbs after the flour, but this step is optional.
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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Flour + eggtop 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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Fish + flourtop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,532 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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
- Fish
- Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks through.
- Flour or cornmeal
- Forms a dry coating that browns in the hot fat and gives a crisp crust.
- Cooking fat
- Conducts heat to the coating so it browns evenly and crisps the surface.
- Beaten egg
- Helps the coating adhere and adds a layer that browns further when fried.
The step that matters
Fry slowly until thoroughly cooked. Frying too hot can brown the coating before the fish's centre cooks through. A slow, steady fry lets heat reach the middle while the crust sets without burning.
“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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