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 Balls
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Mash the boiled potatoes until fine.
Stir in the yolk of the egg and shape the mixture into balls.
Coat and cook
Dip the balls in beaten egg.
Roll the balls in cracker crumbs.
Fry quickly in deep fat or bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C).
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.
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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
- Boiled potatoes
- Form the soft, starchy body that holds the balls together.
- Egg
- Yolk binds the potato mixture, and beaten egg helps crumbs adhere to the outside.
- Cracker crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned outer crust when fried or baked.
The step that matters
Coat the balls evenly before cooking. Egg and crumbs form the outer layer that seals the soft potato inside. Gaps in the coating let the interior break open or absorb fat during frying.
“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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