Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Fish Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Boil the potatoes until tender, then mash them light and fine.
Mix the mashed potatoes thoroughly with the chopped salt-fish.
Taste the mixture and add salt if needed.
Add the butter and optional milk, mixing well.
Shape and fry
Shape the mixture into round balls about the size of an egg.
Fry the balls in boiling oil until they are a handsome brown, about 5 minutes.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Fish + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,432 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt-fish
- Provides the main savoury flavour and salty taste through the mixture.
- Potatoes
- Form the bulk of the balls, giving a soft, mashed body that holds the shape.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, softening the mash and adding flavour.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that keeps the mashed potato soft and easy to shape.
The step that matters
Fry the balls in boiling oil. The oil must be hot enough to brown the outside quickly. Browning creates flavour and a crisp surface, while the potato inside cooks through. Oil that is too cool lets the balls soak up grease and turn heavy.
“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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