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 ↓
Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine mashed potatoes, salt, pepper, melted butter, and beaten egg whites.
Shape the mixture into small rolls.
Coat and fry
Dip each roll into egg yolk, then roll in cornmeal.
Fry the croquettes in deep hot oil until golden brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Mashed potatoes
- Form the bulk of the croquette, giving a soft, moist interior.
- Beaten egg whites
- Bind the potato mixture so the rolls hold their shape.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the potato mixture.
- Egg yolk
- Helps the cornmeal coating adhere and promotes browning.
- Cornmeal
- Forms a crisp outer crust when fried.
The step that matters
Frying in deep hot oil. If the oil is not hot enough, the croquettes absorb extra oil and turn greasy before the coating sets. Hot oil quickly crisps the cornmeal crust and browns it while the interior heats through.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, egg):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, 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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