Why it works: Fish and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,036 recipes. Both carry acetoin, which smells butter, cream. The science ↓
Fish Recipes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rub the inside of the fish with coarse sea salt and let it stand for 1 hour.
Place the fish on a strainer in a fish kettle and tie it in place with broad tape.
Boil
Fill the kettle with cold water to cover the fish, adding ¼ pound of coarse sea salt and ½ cup of vinegar for every gallon.
Gently lower the fish into the water and bring it to a boil.
Simmer gently until cooked, skimming off any scum that rises.
Drain and serve
Lift the strainer out and place it crosswise on top of the kettle.
Cover with a cloth for a few minutes to allow it to drain thoroughly.
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 + vinegartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,036 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Is the main ingredient, cooked gently in simmering salted water until it is done.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the fish when rubbed inside it and seasons the boiling water.
- Vinegar
- Added to the boiling water, where it contributes a mild acidity to the poaching liquid.
The step that matters
Simmer gently until cooked. A gentle simmer cooks the fish evenly, while a hard rolling boil can break the flesh apart. Skimming removes scum that would otherwise cloud the liquid and mar the fish.
“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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