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Salmon Puffs

Salmon puffs are baked salmon and breadcrumb cakes served with fish sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Salmon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,481 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Salmon Puffs

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Remove the skin and bones from the salmon and chop it finely.

  3. In a bowl, combine the salmon, melted butter, salt, white pepper, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, and beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly and pack the mixture into cups.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the cups in a pan of hot water, ensuring the water does not reach the tops of the cups. Bake for 30 minutes.

  2. Turn out the puffs onto a hot platter. Garnish each puff with a sprig of parsley or celery and pour fish sauce around them.

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

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

  2. Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. White pepper + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,658 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  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

Eggs
Bind the mixture and set into a light, puffed structure when baked.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb moisture and add body so the mixture holds its shape.
Salmon
Provides the main protein and flavour of the puffs.
Melted butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.

The step that matters

Packing the cups in hot water. The water bath must not reach the tops of the cups, so the puffs cook gently and evenly instead of boiling over or becoming rubbery. Gentle, indirect heat lets the egg set smoothly.

Swap the white pepper

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Dillfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter, lemon, egg. 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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