Why it works: Fish and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,488 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Fish Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Freshen the cod fish slightly and cook for about 1 minute; chop finely.
Mix and shape
Beat all ingredients together until well blended and season with coarse sea salt.
Form the mixture into cakes, dip into flour, and fry in bacon fat or cooking oil.
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.
-
Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Fish + potatotop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together134 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Fish + eggtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,782 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cod fish
- Provides the main fish flavor and the bulk of the mixture.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture so the cakes hold together while frying.
- Mashed potatoes
- Adds body and moisture, helping the cakes stay soft inside.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor to the mixture.
The step that matters
Forming and frying the cakes. The mixture is soft and wet, so cakes need to be formed firmly and dipped in flour before frying. The flour coating helps them keep their shape and brown evenly in hot fat.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, egg, butter):
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Chivefits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, egg, 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.
More fish balls recipes
You might also like
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Fried Fish120 recipes
Fish Croquettes81 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.