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Cod Fish Balls

Cod fish balls are made from flaked cod, mashed potatoes, eggs, and seasonings, then fried in hot lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Cod Fish Balls

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 ↓

Cod Fish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Simmer the cod fish for a little while until cooked.

  2. Boil the potatoes until tender, then mash them while hot.

  3. Mix the mashed potatoes with the flaked cod fish.

  4. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, and butter.

  5. Add the beaten eggs and mix well.

Fry and serve

  1. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into hot lard and fry until golden brown.

  2. Serve the fish balls in a napkin on a platter.

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.

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.

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

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

  2. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Fish + potatotop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together134 recipes

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

  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

Cod fish
Provides the main flavour and bulk of the fish balls.
Potatoes
Add body and starch that help the balls hold together.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so it holds its shape while frying.
Butter
Adds richness and a softer, moister texture to the mixture.

The step that matters

Frying in hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the balls absorb grease and turn heavy and soggy. Hot fat sets the outside quickly and browns it, keeping the inside tender.

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, 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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