Why it works: Turbot and lobster work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 163 recipes. Both carry octanal, which smells fat, soap. The science ↓
How to Boil Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Fill a large kettle with enough water to cover the fish. Add salt, vinegar, shredded horseradish, and sweet herbs; bring to a boil.
Remove the kettle from heat and let the water cool completely.
Score the dark side of the turbot just through the skin.
Poach the fish
Place the fish in the kettle, dark side down, and bring the water back to a boil.
Boil a moderate-sized turbot for about 20 minutes, or a large one for 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve
Drain the fish well and place it on a napkin on a fish-drain.
Garnish with sliced lemon and scraped horseradish before serving.
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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Turbot + lobstertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together163 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Horseradish + lemontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,155 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Vinegar + horseradishtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Fish + turbottop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together153 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Fish + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,889 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turbot
- The main fish, whose firm flesh holds together and flakes when gently poached.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the poached fish and the broth.
- Shredded horseradish
- Contributes a sharp, pungent aroma that flavours the poaching water.
The step that matters
Timing the boil. Once the water returns to a boil, the fish cooks quickly. Overcooking tightens the proteins and squeezes out moisture, leaving the flesh dry and likely to break apart, so the time should match the fish's size.
“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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