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Salmon Balls

Salmon Balls are fried balls made from minced salmon, mashed potatoes, butter, salt, pepper, and coated in flour.

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 ↓

Salmon Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Combine the minced salmon and mashed potatoes in a bowl.

  2. Add melted butter, salt, and pepper; mix until soft enough to mold.

Shape and fry

  1. Shape the mixture into balls and roll them in flour.

  2. Fry the balls in hot butter until golden brown; lard can be used if desired.

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. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  4. Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,355 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Minced salmon
Provides the main body and flavor of the meatballs.
Mashed potatoes
Binds the mixture and keeps the meatballs moist and tender.
Melted butter
Adds richness and moisture, and helps the outside brown when frying.
Flour
Coats the outside so the meatballs brown and form a light crust.

The step that matters

Frying the balls in hot butter. If the fat is not hot enough, the meatballs absorb grease and turn soggy instead of browning. Medium-high heat sets a crust quickly, which helps the balls hold their shape.

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter, pepper, flour. 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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