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Fish Hash

A fried dish of salt fish, potatoes, pork, and milk or water, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,668 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Fish Hash

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Fry the pork slices in a pan until browned, then remove them.

  2. In the same pan, combine the chopped salt-fish, potatoes, and milk or water.

  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  4. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

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. Potato + porktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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

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

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

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Salt-fish
Provides the main savory flavor and the bulk of the protein in the hash.
Potatoes
Add starch and body, and break down slightly to bind the hash together.
Pork
Adds savory fat and browned flavor to the pan that carries into the hash.
Milk or water
Supplies moisture that softens the potatoes and helps the mixture cook evenly.

The step that matters

Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Stirring keeps the mixture from sticking and scorching on the hot pan while the liquid evaporates and the flavors meld. Without it, the bottom can burn while the top stays dry.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, milk, pepper, pork):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Tomatofits less well
  4. Asparagusfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, milk, pepper, pork. 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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