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Mock Fish Balls in Curry or Cream Sauce

Mock fish balls made from mashed potatoes, served in a curry or cream sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mock Fish Balls in Curry or Cream Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the balls

  1. Mash the boiled potatoes very fine or strain them through a vegetable strainer.

  2. Mix in the butter, potato flour, beaten eggs, onion juice, salt, and pepper.

  3. Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil.

  4. Dip a tablespoon in cold water, then scoop the mixture.

  5. Shape into oblong balls.

  6. Carefully drop the balls into the boiling water without crowding.

  7. Cook for 3 minutes.

  8. Remove them as they float to the surface.

  9. Drain the balls in a colander while preparing the sauce.

Make the sauce and serve

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

  2. Stir in the flour and curry powder.

  3. Add milk until the sauce reaches a cream-like consistency.

  4. Add the cooked balls to the sauce.

  5. Bring to a boil.

  6. Remove from heat.

  7. Stir in the Madeira, if using.

  8. Serve on a platter, garnished with parsley.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Mashed potatoes form the body of the balls, giving them a soft, tender interior.
Eggs
Beaten eggs bind the mixture so the balls hold their shape during cooking.
Potato flour
Absorbs moisture and helps the mixture set firmly enough to shape and boil.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, keeping the balls tender and the sauce smooth.
Flour
Thickens the butter into a roux that gives the curry sauce body.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the cream sauce, carrying the curry flavor.

The step that matters

Cooking the balls in boiling water. Dropping too many balls at once lowers the water temperature and causes them to break apart or cook unevenly. Crowding is avoided by cooking in small batches so the balls set quickly in steady boiling water.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, flour, egg, pepper, sauce, milk. 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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