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Fish Croquettes

Fish croquettes are fried rolls of minced fish mixed with mashed potato, butter, egg, and cornstarch, coated in breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Fish Croquettes

Why it works: Potato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Fish Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Remove bones and skin from the cooked fish and mince it finely.

  2. In a bowl, combine the minced fish, mashed potato, melted butter, beaten egg, and cornstarch. Mix until well combined and form the mixture into rolls.

Coat and fry

  1. Coat each roll in beaten egg and then in bread crumbs.

  2. Heat a well-buttered griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the croquettes until golden brown on all sides.

  3. Garnish with parsley before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cooked fish
Provides the main body and flavour of the croquettes.
Mashed potato
Adds moisture and softness, helping the mixture hold together while staying tender.
Egg
Binds the mixture and forms a coating that helps the crumbs stick and brown.
Cornstarch
Absorbs moisture and helps the mixture hold its shape when fried.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the outside brown in the pan.

The step that matters

Forming and coating the rolls. If the mixture is too wet, the rolls can crack or fall apart in the pan. Binding with egg and cornstarch and coating well helps the crumbs adhere and form a sealed crust that holds during frying.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, egg, bread, parsley):

  1. Shallotfits about as well
  2. Leekfits about as well
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, egg, bread, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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