FISH BALLS
1 cupful salt codfish 4 small potatoes 1 egg 1/2 tablespoonful butter or substitute 1/8 teaspoonful pepper
Wash the fish in water and tear into small pieces; wash and pare the potatoes. Cook the fish and the whole potatoes together in gently boiling water, containing no salt, until the potatoes are soft. Drain and shake over the fire until dry; mash, add the beaten egg, fat, pepper, and salt (if needed), and beat until light. Take up the mixture by spoonfuls, mold slightly, and place in hot deep fat. Do not fry more than six balls at one time. Fry until brown, drain, garnish, and serve at once. White or Cheese Sauce may be served over Fish Balls.
The potatoes used in fish balls may be steamed. The codfish, however, must be soaked or cooked in water.
QUESTIONS
Why is it not necessary to soak codfish for Fish Balls in water before cooking?
Why is salt not added to the water in which codfish and potatoes are cooked?
If a food that is to be fried contains much water, what happens to the water when placed in the hot fat? Explain why it is better to leave the potatoes whole rather than cut them into pieces for cooking. Why is it especially necessary to dry the fish and potato mixture before frying?
What ingredient do Fish Balls contain that hardens immediately on being heated? Of what advantage is this ingredient in mixtures that are to be fried?
What is the price per package of codfish? What is the weight and measure of a package?
LESSON XXXVI
FAT AS A FRYING MEDIUM--DIGESTION OF FAT
EXPERIMENT 36: ACTION OF OIL AND WATER.--Pour a little corn or cottonseed oil into a test tube, add the same quantity of water, and shake the tube. Set the tube aside for a minute and examine. Which material rises to the top? Is oil soluble in water? What application can be made from this concerning the effectiveness of cleaning the fat of meats with water?
EXPERIMENT 36: EMULSION OF FAT.--In a test tube put a bit of soap and 2 tablespoonfuls of water. Heat until the soap is melted. Add 1/2 teaspoonful of vegetable oil. Shake the mixture and then examine. What familiar food does the mixture look like? Set the tube aside for a minute. Does the oil rise to the top as in Experiment 35? The fat is in an emulsified condition.
BREAKING UP OF FATS.--Fats and oils are not soluble in any substance found in the digestive juices, but they are acted upon by an enzyme [Footnote 41: Steapsin or lipase is the enzyme found in the pancreatic juice which acts upon fat.] and by an alkaline substance found in the pancreatic juice. The enzyme breaks up some of the fat into a fatty acid [Footnote 42: Fatty acids are substances related to fats; they have certain acid properties.] and glycerin.
During digestion, fat is emulsified, i.e. divided into tiny globules which do not coalesce.
When a fat is emulsified, it often looks like milk. (Milk contains fat in an emulsified form; the fat separates, however, by standing and rises to the top to form cream.) Fats can be emulsified by several different substances. A soap solution is one of the substances that will emulsify fats. (The action of soap solution in emulsifying fat was shown in Experiment 36.)
If fats are emulsified by means of soap, one might ask where the soap comes from in the process of digestion. The soap is thought to be formed by the action of the alkali of the pancreatic juice upon some of the fatty acids formed by the splitting up of the fat. By means of the soap thus formed, fat is emulsified during digestion. During digestion, fat is broken up into fatty acids and glycerin.
FRYING AND DIGESTION.--Fat is a slowly digesting foodstuff. Not only fats, but foods coated with fat are digested slowly. Because of the longer time in the digestive tract, foods may cause digestive disturbances.
When fats are heated to a high temperature, they are decomposed and irritating substances (free fatty acids) are formed. These substances are absorbed by foods which are browned in fats.
It is well, then, to have the least possible quantity of fat soak into foods cooked in fats.