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 ↓
Croquettes of Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the bones from the fish and mince it with seasoning.
In a bowl, beat the egg, then mix in the flour and milk.
Shape and coat
Form the fish mixture into balls, brush with the egg mixture, and coat with bread and cracker crumbs.
Fry
Fry the croquettes in hot pork fat until golden brown.
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 + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Fish + porktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together668 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Milk + porktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,386 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Bread + porktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,371 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Binds the fish mixture and, beaten, forms a coating that helps crumbs adhere.
- Flour
- Thickens the egg and milk mixture so it clings to the fish.
- Milk
- Adds moisture to the binder, keeping the croquettes tender.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp outer crust that browns during frying.
- Cracker crumbs
- Add an extra crisp, browned outer layer when fried.
The step that matters
Frying in hot pork fat. If the fat is not hot enough, the crumb coating absorbs oil and becomes greasy, and the interior may not set before the outside over-browns. Hot fat seals the crust quickly so the croquettes turn golden and stay firm.
“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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