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Steamed Fish

A whole fish is marinated in vinegar, seasoned, chilled, then steamed until tender.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Steamed Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Secure the tail of the fish in its mouth and lay it on a plate.

  2. Pour over the vinegar and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  3. Let it stand in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Steam and serve

  1. Pour off the vinegar and place the fish in a steamer over boiling water.

  2. Steam for 20 minutes, or longer if the fish is very large.

  3. When done, the meat should easily separate from the bone.

  4. Drain well and serve on a napkin, garnished with curled parsley.

  5. Serve drawn butter in a boat.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Vinegar + parsleytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,477 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish
Provides the main protein, which turns firm and flakes away from the bone as it cooks.
Vinegar
Acidity that firms the surface of the fish and adds a sharp, tangy flavour.

The step that matters

Steaming until the meat separates from the bone. Fish turns from translucent to opaque and firm as its proteins set with heat. Overcooking makes it dry and tough, while undercooking leaves it unsafe and clinging to the bone. Checking that the flesh lifts away easily shows it is done.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Tarragonfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Thymefits less well
  4. Capersfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, vinegar, pepper, butter. 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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