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Codfish Balls

A fried codfish and potato mixture formed into balls.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 ↓

Codfish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish and potatoes

  1. Wash the codfish in cold water.

  2. Break the codfish into small pieces.

  3. Cut the potatoes into cubes.

  4. Cook the potatoes with the fish until the potatoes are soft.

Mix the batter

  1. Drain the mixture through a strainer.

  2. Return the drained mixture to the kettle.

  3. Wash the mixture thoroughly.

  4. Add the butter, beaten egg, and pepper.

  5. Beat the mixture with a fork until well combined.

Fry and serve

  1. Take spoonfuls of the mixture.

  2. Fry the spoonfuls in deep oil until golden brown.

  3. Drain the fried balls on brown paper before serving.

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. Butter + eggtop 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

Codfish
Provides the main savory flavor and the bulk of the mixture.
Potatoes
Add starch and body, helping the mixture hold together when shaped.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, softening the texture of the mixture.
Egg
Binds the mixture so the balls keep their shape while frying.

The step that matters

Fry the spoonfuls in deep oil until golden brown. The oil must be hot enough to brown the outside quickly. If it is too cool, the balls absorb oil and turn greasy before they set, and the centers stay soft.

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, 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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