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Croquettes of Fish

Fried fish balls coated in bread and cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Fish and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,668 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓

Croquettes of Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove the bones from the fish and mince it with seasoning.

  2. In a bowl, combine the minced fish with the beaten egg, flour, and milk.

  3. Roll the mixture into balls.

Coat and fry

  1. Brush the outside of each ball with egg and dredge in bread and cracker crumbs.

  2. Fry the croquettes in hot pork fat until golden brown.

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. Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  2. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  3. Fish + porktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together668 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  4. Milk + porktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  5. Bread + porktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,371 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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 croquette and provides its flavor.
Egg
Binds the minced fish together and helps the coating adhere.
Flour
Absorbs moisture and helps the mixture hold its shape.
Milk
Adds moisture, keeping the interior tender rather than dry.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden coating that browns when fried.
Cracker crumbs
Add to the crisp, browned outer coating when fried.

The step that matters

Fry in hot pork fat until golden brown. If the fat is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy instead of crisp, while the interior may stay underdone. Frying at a steady high heat browns the crumbs quickly and seals the surface.

“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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