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Shredded Codfish Balls

A fried ball made from mashed potatoes, shredded codfish, egg, pepper, and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Shredded Codfish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Mix hot mashed potatoes with shredded codfish.

  2. If the codfish is too salty, rinse it in cold water and squeeze dry.

  3. Add the egg and pepper, and beat until light and creamy.

  4. Shape the mixture into balls.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll the balls in dry bread crumbs.

  2. Dip the balls in beaten egg mixed with milk.

  3. Roll the balls in crumbs again.

  4. Heat oil in a deep fryer to just below the smoking point.

  5. Fry the balls until they are a rich brown color.

  6. Drain on brown paper.

  7. Garnish with parsley 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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  4. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  5. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Hot mashed potatoes
Provide the bulk and soft body that holds the balls together.
Shredded codfish
Adds the main salty, fish flavour to the balls.
Egg
Binds the mixture and gives the coating a set layer that helps it brown.
Dry bread crumbs
Form a crisp outer crust when fried.

The step that matters

Frying at the right heat. Oil just below its smoking point browns the crumb coating while the inside heats through. Oil that is too hot can scorch the outside before the centre is hot, and oil that is too cool lets the balls soak up grease and turn heavy.

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, bread, milk, parsley. 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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