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Smoked Fish

Smoked Fish is a fish prepared by smoking over coconut fibre smoke and buttered on both sides.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Smoked Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Clean and wash the fish.

  2. Cut it in half if it is flat, or slice it into ½‑inch thick pieces if it is not.

  3. Remove all bones and dry the fish on a clean cloth.

Smoke

  1. Prepare a fire using slightly damp coconut fibre to produce smoke.

  2. Place an oiled gridiron over the fire.

  3. Butter the fish on both sides.

  4. Lay the fish on the grid.

  5. Cover it with a pot lid to concentrate the smoke.

  6. Smoke the fish for about 10 minutes until it turns a rich reddish‑brown on one side.

  7. Turn the fish over and let it color on the other side.

Serve

  1. It is now ready to serve.

  2. Mix a little anchovy sauce with the butter if desired.

  3. Serve with any nice sauce.

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.

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. Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together637 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

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

  4. Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,697 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
Forms the main body of the dish, and its flesh cooks through in the smoke.
Butter
Adds moisture and richness to the fish and helps it color on the grill.

The step that matters

Smoke the fish for about 10 minutes until it turns a rich reddish‑brown on one side.. Smoke carries flavour and colour, but the fish can dry out or scorch if left too long over the fire. Watch the colour and turn it once it is browned.

“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.

More smoked fish recipes

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