Why it works: Potato and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,355 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Potato Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Form cold mashed potatoes into balls or cakes.
Dust your hands with flour to prevent sticking.
Cook and serve
Fry in enough hot fat to prevent sticking to the skillet.
Serve hot.
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 + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold mashed potatoes
- Form the main body of the balls, holding their shape when pressed together.
- Flour
- Dusting on the hands keeps the potato from sticking while shaping.
- Fat
- Frying in hot fat browns the outside and adds richness and flavour.
The step that matters
Frying in enough hot fat. Enough hot fat keeps the potato balls from sticking to the skillet and lets the outside brown evenly. Too little or cool fat lets them stick and absorb grease, so they tear or turn heavy.
“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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