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Fish Hash

A hash of saltfish, potatoes, and pork, cooked together in a pan.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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

Prepare

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

  2. In a bowl, mix the salt-fish, chopped potatoes, milk or water, salt, and pepper.

  3. Pour some of the pork gravy over the hash mixture and mix thoroughly.

Cook and serve

  1. Transfer the mixture to the frypan, even it out with a knife, and cover tightly.

  2. Let it cook on low heat for 30 minutes until browned.

  3. Fold the hash over, turn it out onto a platter, and garnish with the fried pork.

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 savoury flavour and body of the hash.
Potatoes
Bind the mixture and add starchy bulk that helps the hash hold together.
Pork
Supplies fat and drippings that brown the hash and add savoury flavour.
Milk or water
Moistens the mixture so the potatoes and fish stay tender during cooking.

The step that matters

Cooking the covered hash on low heat. Low, covered heat cooks the potatoes through and lets the bottom brown gradually. High heat would scorch the base before the interior is hot and set.

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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