Easy Fish Balls

A camp version of New England salt fish balls: the ingredient list and the method have been run together, so read it as one part shredded salt cod to roughly two parts mashed potato, bound with an egg and seasoned with pepper.

• Soak the fish firstHard-dried salt cod must be freshened before it goes anywhere near the potato "shredded" here assumes fish already soaked and picked apart. Cover with cold water for several hours or overnight, changing the water two or three times, then drain and squeeze dry. Skipping this step gives balls too salty to eat.
• No added saltThe recipe lists pepper only. Taste the mixture before shaping; the cod is likely to carry all the salt the dish needs.
• ProportionsThe quantity of fish is not stated. About one cup of soaked, flaked fish to the two cups of mashed potato gives a workable mixture; a higher proportion of fish makes the balls harder to hold together.
• Cold potato holds betterEither temperature is allowed, but cold mashed potato is stiffer and shapes more cleanly. Hot potato makes a slack mixture that wants to slump in the pan; if that is what you have, chill it for half an hour before shaping.
• FryingShallow-fry in about a quarter inch of hot fat, turning once, until deep brown on both sides, three to four minutes or so. The potato is cooked, but the soaked cod and the egg are not, so cook the cakes through rather than merely crusting them.
• Dry the outsideWet mixture spatters and sticks. Blot the shaped balls, flatten them slightly into cakes for better contact with the pan, and give them room rather than crowding.
• YieldTwo cups of potato plus fish makes about eight to ten cakes, enough for three or four people with bread and something acidic alongside pickles, tomato, or a wedge of lemon.