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Cod Fish Balls

Cod fish balls are made from salt cod, potatoes, egg, butter, and pepper, then boiled, mashed, and fried or baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Cod Fish Balls

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 ↓

Cod 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 small pieces.

Cook and mash

  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.

Shape and fry

  1. Take spoonfuls of the mixture, mold slightly, and slip them into hot fat. Fry until brown.

  2. Alternatively, mold the mixture into cakes and bake in the oven.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Fish + potatotop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together134 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Salt cod fish
Provides the main savory flavor and the flaky body of the balls.
Potatoes
Adds starch and bulk, giving the mixture a soft, binding texture.
Egg
Binds the mashed mixture together and helps it set when cooked.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, softening the mixture and aiding browning.

The step that matters

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

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, 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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