Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fish Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Chop the codfish into small pieces after removing bones and skin.
Combine the chopped fish, mashed potatoes, drawn butter, and beaten egg in a bowl.
Season to taste.
Mix until the mixture is soft enough to mold but holds its shape.
Shape and fry
Roll the mixture into balls.
Coat the balls in flour.
Heat lard or clear dripping in a pan.
Fry the balls until golden brown.
Drain and serve
Remove the balls from the fat using a colander to drain excess grease.
Place the balls on white paper to absorb excess oil.
Serve on a hot dish.
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.
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Codfish
- Provides the main body and savoury flavour of the fish balls.
- Mashed potatoes
- Adds softness and moisture, helping the mixture bind and stay tender.
- Drawn butter
- Adds richness and moisture, keeping the interior tender.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture together so the balls hold their shape.
- Flour
- Forms a dry coating that helps the balls brown evenly when fried.
The step that matters
Mix until the mixture is soft enough to mold but holds its shape. Too wet a mixture will fall apart in the hot fat, while overworking or too little moisture can make the balls dense and dry. The mixture needs enough binding from egg and potato to hold together.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, flour):
- Chivefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, flour. 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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