Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Clam Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the clams
Wash the clams thoroughly and place them in a pot with ½ pint of water.
Cook until the shells open, then remove the clams from the shells and chop them finely, saving the clam water.
In a frying pan, gently fry the salt pork until browned, then remove the scraps.
Add the chopped onions to the pan and fry until delicate.
Make the chowder
In a clean chowder kettle, combine the fried onions, clam water, and clams.
Add hot water and bring to a boil.
Stir in the potatoes and cook until tender.
Thicken and season
Just before serving, thicken the chowder with 1 cup of powdered crackers and add 1 quart of fresh milk.
If the chowder is too rich, add more water and season with black pepper.
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.
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Clam + porktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together305 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clams
- Provide the main flavor and texture, and their cooking liquid adds savory depth to the broth.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat and browned bits that carry flavor through the chowder.
- Potatoes
- Become tender and add starch and body to the chowder.
- Powdered crackers
- Thicken the chowder as they absorb liquid and swell.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the broth's texture.
The step that matters
Adding the powdered crackers. Crackers thicken the broth as they absorb liquid and swell. Adding them too early or in too large an amount can make the chowder gluey or heavy, so they are stirred in just before serving.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, pork, potato, milk, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, pork, potato, milk, pepper. 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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