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Lobster or Shrimp Balls

A dish of lobster or shrimp formed into balls, coated in breadcrumbs, and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Lobster and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,050 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Lobster or Shrimp Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. If using lobster, remove the meat from the shell and chop it finely.

  2. In a bowl, combine the lobster or shrimp with cream, egg yolks, pepper, and salt.

  3. Form the mixture into balls.

Coat and fry

  1. Dip each ball in beaten egg.

  2. Roll each ball in gluten breadcrumbs.

  3. Fry the balls in hot oil until golden brown.

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. Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together21,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Lobster + peppertop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,247 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

  5. Lobster + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,484 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lobster or shrimp
Provides the main filling and the seafood flavour of the balls.
Egg yolks
Bind the mixture and add richness to the filling.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness to the filling.
Egg
Beaten egg helps the breadcrumbs adhere to each ball.
Gluten breadcrumbs
Form a crisp coating that browns when fried.

The step that matters

Frying the balls in hot oil. If the oil is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy before it browns. Sufficiently hot oil seals the breadcrumb crust quickly so the filling stays moist inside.

“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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