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Fish Balls

Fish balls made from salt codfish, potatoes, egg, butter, and pepper, boiled then fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Fish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the fish in cold water and break it into small pieces.

  2. Wash, peel, and cut the potatoes into pieces.

Make the mixture

  1. Cook the fish and potatoes together in boiling water until the potatoes are soft.

  2. Drain and shake over the fire until dry.

  3. Mash with a wire potato masher, then add the beaten egg, butter, and pepper.

  4. Add more salt if needed and beat until light.

Fry

  1. Take up the mixture by spoonfuls, mold slightly, and slip them into hot fat.

  2. Fry for one minute, or until brown.

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

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

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Salt codfish
Provides the savory, salty flavor that defines the fish balls.
Potatoes
Add starch and body so the mixture holds together and mashes smoothly.
Egg
Binds the mixture and helps it set as it is cooked.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender texture.

The step that matters

Drain and shake over the fire until dry. Excess water left in the fish and potatoes makes the mixture soft and loose, so the balls may fall apart or fry poorly. Drying off moisture helps the mixture hold its shape and brown well in hot fat.

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, pepper. 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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