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Fish Balls

Fish balls made from salt cod, potatoes, butter, pepper, and egg, then fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 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 ↓

Fish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish and potatoes

  1. Wash the codfish and break it into small pieces.

  2. Cook the fish and potatoes together in boiling water until the potatoes are soft.

  3. Drain and shake over the fire until dry.

  4. Mash the fish and potatoes thoroughly.

Shape and fry

  1. Add the beaten egg, butter, and pepper; mix well and add more salt if needed.

  2. Take up the mixture by spoonfuls and mold slightly.

  3. Fry in hot oil for 1 minute, or until 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. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,978 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Salt codfish
Provides the main savory flavor and the fish body of the balls.
Potatoes
Adds starch and bulk, giving the mixture a soft, cohesive texture when mashed.
Beaten egg
Binds the mashed mixture so the balls hold their shape.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the mixture.
Pepper
Adds a sharp, aromatic seasoning.

The step that matters

Fry in hot oil until brown. Oil must be hot enough to brown the outside quickly. If it is too cool, the balls absorb oil and turn greasy before the surface browns and sets, and the centre may stay loose.

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, 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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