Name: Crispy Pork Cutlets
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 8 cutlets
Ingredients: 2 (1 1/4 pound) fully trimmed pork tenderloins, cut into 8 pieces; salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, or as needed; 2 eggs, beaten; 3 cups panko bread crumbs; 2 tablespoons butter; 1/3 cup diced dill pickles; 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced; 1 bunch green onions, chopped, green tops reserved; 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste; 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 cups cold milk, or more as needed; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, or to taste; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste; 1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying; salt to taste

Why it works: Flour and jalapeno match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 561 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

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.

Flour + jalapenotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together561 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pepper + dilltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pork + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,371 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the jalapeno

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, flour, egg, bread, butter, dill):

Parsleyfits better
Nutmegfits better
Thymefits better
Jalapenothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, flour, egg, bread, butter, dill. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Pork	100g cooked	242
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Crispy Pork Cutlets