Why it works: Olive and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,649 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Fried Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Beat the yolk and white of the egg together in a plate.
Dust the fish with flour to absorb moisture, then wipe off excess with a clean cloth.
Dip the fish in the egg on both sides or brush it evenly with the egg.
Cover the fish completely with bread crumbs, then shake off any loose crumbs.
Fry and serve
Heat the oil or butter in a frying pan until hot enough to fry.
Fry the thick part of the fish for a few minutes before adding the thin part.
Once cooked, serve the fish in the same form as before cutting, garnished with parsley if desired.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Olive + parsleytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,649 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Bread + olivetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,091 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Binds the bread crumb coating to the fish and helps it brown as it fries.
- Flour
- Dries the fish surface so the egg and crumbs adhere evenly.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden coating that protects the fish during frying.
- Olive oil or clarified butter
- Conducts heat for frying and adds flavour and browning to the crust.
The step that matters
Fry the thick part first. Thick sections need more time to cook through than thin ones. Starting them first lets the centre reach a safe, flaky texture as the thin parts finish without overcooking or drying out.
Swap the parsley
The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, fish, flour, bread, olive):
- Capersfits better
- Parsleythe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Turmericfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, fish, flour, bread, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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