Name: Unforgettable Ham Balls
Ingredients: 1 pound ground cooked ham; ½ pound ground fresh pork; 1½ cups soft bread crumbs (about 3 slices); 2 tablespoons Jack Daniel's whiskey, divided; 2 tablespoons water; 1 egg; ¼ cup minced celery; 2 tablespoons minced onion; ½ teaspoon dry mustard; ¼ teaspoon pepper; ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves; ⅓ cup firmly packed brown sugar; 1 tablespoon prepared mustard; ½ tablespoon vinegar

Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

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.

Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,169 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 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

Ground cooked ham: Provides the main savory flavor and firm body of the meatballs.
Ground fresh pork: Adds fat and moisture so the meatballs stay tender rather than dry.
Soft bread crumbs: Absorb liquid and help bind the meat into a tender, cohesive mixture.
Egg: Binds the mixture together so the meatballs hold their shape.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and caramelizes in the sauce for a glossy, rich flavor.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that balances the sweetness of the brown sugar sauce.

The step that matters

Bake until fully cooked. Ground meat mixtures are safe only when the centre reaches a full cooking temperature, and meatballs of this size can look done on the outside before the middle is cooked through. Check the centre before dipping.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, pork, bread, egg, celery, mustard, pepper):

Lettucefits better
Capsicumfits better
Asparagusfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, pork, bread, egg, celery, mustard, pepper. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Pork	100g cooked	242
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cloves	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Whiskey	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Unforgettable Ham Balls