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Shredded Codfish Balls

Shredded codfish mixed with mashed potatoes, formed into balls, breaded and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Shredded Codfish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Mix hot mashed potatoes with shredded codfish.

  2. If the mixture is too salty, rinse it in cold water and squeeze dry.

  3. Add the small egg and a pinch of pepper, beating until light and creamy.

  4. Shape the mixture into balls.

Coat the balls

  1. Roll the balls in dry bread crumbs.

  2. Dip the balls in beaten egg mixed with milk.

  3. Roll the balls in crumbs again.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat oil in a deep fryer to just below the smoking point.

  2. Fry the balls until they are a rich brown color.

  3. Drain the fried balls on brown paper.

  4. Garnish the balls with parsley before serving.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  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. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Hot mashed potatoes
Provides the bulk and soft, moist body of the balls.
Shredded codfish
Supplies the main flavor and savory character of the balls.
Small egg
Binds the mixture and helps it set firm when fried.
Dry bread crumbs
Form a crisp outer crust that browns during frying.
Beaten egg
Acts as a glue so the crumbs stick to the balls and help them brown.

The step that matters

Frying the balls. Oil that is too hot browns the crumbs before the centre heats through, while oil that is too cool lets the balls absorb grease and turn heavy. Keeping the oil just below smoking point gives an even, rich brown crust.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, bread, milk, parsley):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Carrotfits about as well
  3. Potatothe original
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, bread, milk, parsley. 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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