Why it works: Potato and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 29% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,978 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Potato Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine the mashed potatoes and beaten egg.
Form the mixture into balls.
Roll each ball in cracker crumbs.
Fry
Fry the coated balls in hot oil until golden brown.
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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Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Mashed potatoes
- Provides the bulk and moist body that holds the cakes together.
- Egg
- Binds the potatoes into a cohesive mixture that holds its shape when formed.
- Cracker crumbs
- Form a crisp, browning coating on the outside of each cake when fried.
The step that matters
Fry the coated balls in hot oil until golden brown. The oil must be hot enough to crisp and brown the crumb coating quickly. If it is too cool, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy while the centre stays soft and loose.
“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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