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Fish Balls

Fish balls made from salt codfish, potatoes, egg, butter, and pepper, fried until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Fish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash fish in cold water.

  2. Pick fish in very small pieces or cut using scissors.

  3. Wash potatoes.

  4. Pare potatoes.

  5. Soak potatoes.

  6. Cut potatoes into pieces of uniform size before measuring.

Make the mixture

  1. Cook fish and potatoes in boiling water until potatoes are soft.

  2. Drain through strainer.

  3. Return to kettle in which they were cooked.

  4. Mash thoroughly, ensuring no lumps.

  5. Add butter, egg well beaten, and pepper.

  6. Beat with a fork for two minutes.

  7. Add salt if necessary.

  8. Take up by spoonfuls.

Fry

  1. Put in frying basket.

  2. Fry for one minute in deep fat, allowing six fish balls for each frying.

  3. Drain on brown paper.

  4. Reheat the fat after each frying.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

347Calories
11 gProtein
17 gFat
39 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Codfishnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Fannie Merritt Farmer. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

  1. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,978 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Salt codfish
Provides the main savoury flavour and the fish texture of the balls.
Potatoes
Bind the fish together and give the balls a soft, starchy body.
Egg
Binds the mashed mixture so the balls hold their shape while frying.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a softer, moister interior.

The step that matters

Reheat the fat after each frying. Frying lowers the oil temperature as cold food goes in. Reheating before the next batch keeps the fat hot enough to crisp the outside quickly, so the balls do not absorb excess oil and turn greasy.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, 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.

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