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Potato Dumplings

A steamed dumpling made from grated potatoes, egg, farina, fried bread cubes, and onion.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Potato Dumplings

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a large bowl, combine the grated potatoes, egg, farina, fried bread cubes, and chopped onion.

Shape and steam

  1. Mix until well combined and form the mixture into balls.

  2. Steam the dumplings for 28 minutes.

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 + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

  4. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 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

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the dumpling, giving a soft, starchy body.
Egg
Binds the mixture so the dumplings hold their shape.
Farina
Absorbs moisture and firms the mixture so the balls hold together.
Bread cubes
Fried in butter, they add richness and a little chew.
Onion
Adds savory aroma and flavor.

The step that matters

Mixing and shaping the mixture. Mix only until the ingredients are combined. The potato starch and farina bind the mixture, and overworking the starchy dough can make the dumplings gummy and dense. The mixture should be firm enough to hold its shape when formed into balls.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, egg, bread, butter. 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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