Why it works: Wheat and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,373 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Egg Balls for Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Take the yolks of six hard-boiled eggs and half a tablespoonful of wheat flour.
Rub them smooth with the yolks of two raw eggs and a teaspoonful of salt. Mix all well together.
Make the mixture into balls.
Cook in the soup
Drop the balls into the boiling soup a few minutes before taking it up.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Wheat | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Wheat + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,225 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Wheat flour
- Adds body and helps bind the mixture so the balls hold together.
- Raw eggs
- Bind the mixture and set when heated, helping the balls keep their shape.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Provide richness and a soft, crumbly texture to the balls.
The step that matters
Dropping the balls into the boiling soup. Raw egg in the mixture sets when heated, which is what holds each ball together. Adding the balls only a few minutes before serving lets them set without overcooking, since prolonged boiling can make them tough or break them apart.
“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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