Potato Balls

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. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

2. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

3. Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together5,355 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

4. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together106,462 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together118,967 recipes

   Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Flour and butter 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

Mashed potatoes

Forms the bulk of the cakes and gives them a soft, tender interior.

Egg

Binds the potato mixture so the cakes hold their shape.

Flour

Dry coating that helps the outside brown and crisp during frying.

Butter or lard

Fat for frying that conducts heat and browns the outside of the cakes.

The step that matters

Swap the potato

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

1. Chivefits better
2. Shallotfits better
3. Leekfits better
4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.