Skip to main content
Main

Fish Rissoles

A fried fish patty made from flaked fish, breadcrumbs, eggs, and seasoning.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

Fish Rissoles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Flake and mince the fish finely, removing moisture if using tinned fish.

  2. Mix the fish with one-third of its amount in breadcrumbs.

Shape and coat

  1. Moisten the mixture with a beaten egg and season to taste.

  2. Form the mixture into balls or rolls.

  3. Dip each ball in beaten egg, then coat with fine dry breadcrumbs.

Fry and serve

  1. Fry in hot lard or butter until golden brown.

  2. Serve with cut lemon and parsley garnish, alongside thin brown bread and butter.

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. Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,330 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,697 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 rissole and gives it its savoury flavour.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb moisture and bind the mixture so the rissoles hold their shape.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and form a coating that helps the crumbs adhere and brown.
Lard or butter
Conducts heat in the pan and browns the outside of the rissoles.

The step that matters

Removing moisture from the fish. Excess moisture in flaked or tinned fish makes the mixture soft and hard to shape, and it can steam rather than brown in the hot fat. Draining and pressing the fish first helps the rissoles hold together and crisp.

“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

Fried FishFried Fish120 recipesFish CroquettesFish Croquettes81 recipesScalloped CodScalloped Cod69 recipesBroiled FishBroiled Fish68 recipes