Why it works: Pepper and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,459 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fried Herrings
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean and wipe the herring.
Lightly season with pepper and salt, then coat with flour.
Fry and serve
Heat enough oil in a frying pan to cover the herring.
Fry the herring for 7 to 10 minutes, depending on its size.
Remove the herring and place it on a dish to drain excess fat for 1-2 minutes.
Transfer to a hot serving dish and serve immediately.
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.
-
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Herring
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming flaky and moist inside when fried.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms a light coating that browns in the hot oil and crisps the outside of the fish.
The step that matters
Frying in enough hot oil. The oil must be hot and deep enough to cover the herring so the coating crisps quickly. Cool or shallow oil lets the fish soak up grease and turn soggy.
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.