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Cod Fish Balls

A savory cod fish and potato ball fried in lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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. Quarter the potatoes.

  2. Soak the fish in cold water.

  3. Cover the fish with boiling water.

Cook and mash

  1. Boil for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are done.

  2. Drain the potatoes and mash them.

  3. Beat them lightly with a fork.

Make the mixture

  1. Add the butter and pepper.

  2. Mix in the egg once the mixture has cooled slightly.

  3. Add more salt if needed.

Fry

  1. Fry in hot lard for 1 minute, cooking 5 at a time.

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. Butter + eggtop 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 fish
Provides the main savoury flavour and the flaked texture of the fish balls.
Potatoes
Mashed starch gives the mixture body and holds the fish together.
Egg
Binds the mixture as its proteins set, helping the balls hold their shape.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing moisture and flavour to the mash.

The step that matters

Mix in the egg once the mixture has cooled slightly. Egg proteins set when heated, so adding it to a very hot mash can cook it in lumps. Letting the mixture cool slightly lets the egg blend evenly and bind the balls smoothly.

Swap the potato

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