Why it works: Fish and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,948 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Dried Fish
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Soak the dried fish in lukewarm water until softened; larger fish for 12 hours, smaller fish for 2 hours.
Hang the fish by the tails to drain.
Grill
Place the fish on a grill and cook until slightly hardened on one side.
Turn the fish, baste with sweet oil using a feather, and cook until both sides are well heated.
Ensure the fish is kept at a steady heat and does not fall apart while cooking.
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 + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,948 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried fish
- Forms the main body of the dish; soaking rehydrates it so it becomes tender enough to cook.
- Sweet oil
- Brushed on during grilling to add moisture and richness to the surface of the fish.
The step that matters
Keeping the heat steady while grilling. Rehydrated dried fish is delicate and flakes easily. Steady, moderate heat lets the outside set gradually so the fish holds together instead of breaking apart on the grill.
“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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