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Salmon Steamed

Salmon Steamed is a dish of salmon mixed with butter, eggs, breadcrumbs, seasonings, steamed, served with a butter‑cornstarch dressing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Salmon Steamed

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and steam

  1. In a bowl, mix the salmon, melted butter, eggs (reserve yolks), bread crumbs, and seasonings until well combined.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a steamer and steam for 1 hour.

Make the dressing

  1. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan.

  2. Add 1 teaspoon of corn starch to the butter.

  3. Add ½ cup of milk and cook until clear.

  4. Stir in the reserved salmon liquor and the beaten egg yolks.

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.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Mustard + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,588 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

  5. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon
Forms the bulk of the loaf and provides the main flavor and protein structure.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set during steaming to hold the loaf together.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help give the loaf a tender, sliceable texture.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the salmon mixture and fat to the dressing.
Corn starch (in the method)
Thickens the milk-based dressing so it becomes smooth and glossy.
Milk (in the method)
Forms the liquid base of the dressing, which thickens when cooked.

The step that matters

Cook the dressing until clear, then add the yolks. Corn starch must be fully cooked in the milk to thicken and lose its raw taste. Adding beaten yolks to a hot mixture too quickly can scramble them, so stir them in gradually while the sauce is still warm, not boiling.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter, egg, bread, pepper, parsley. 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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