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
Wash the codfish in cold water.
Cut the codfish into very small pieces or with scissors.
Wash the potatoes.
Peel the potatoes.
Soak the potatoes.
Cut the potatoes into uniform pieces before measuring.
Make the mixture
Cook the fish and potatoes in boiling water until the potatoes are soft.
Drain the mixture.
Return the mixture to the pot.
Mash the mixture thoroughly until there are no lumps.
Add the butter, beaten egg, and pepper.
Beat the mixture with a fork for two minutes.
Add salt if necessary.
Fry and serve
Take spoonfuls of the mixture.
Place the spoonfuls in a frying basket.
Fry the fish balls in deep fat for one minute, allowing six fish balls per frying.
Drain the fish balls on brown paper.
Reheat the fat after each frying.
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.
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
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
- Salt codfish
- Provides the main savory flavour and the fish texture that makes up the body of the fish balls.
- Potatoes
- Starch that mashes into a soft, binding base and keeps the centre tender after frying.
- Egg
- Binds the mashed mixture so the balls hold their shape in hot fat.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, softening the mash and adding flavour.
- Pepper
- Adds a mild, sharp aromatic note to the mixture.
The step that matters
Reheat the fat after each frying. Each batch of cold fish balls lowers the oil temperature. Reheating the fat between batches keeps it hot enough to crisp the outside quickly, so the balls absorb less oil and do not turn greasy.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- 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.
More fish balls recipes
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.