Why it works: Potato and onion 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
Remove the soft part of the clams from the hard shells and chop the hard shells finely.
Chop the salt pork and onions finely, peel the potatoes, and slice them.
Mix the flour and milk together for thickening.
Make the chowder
Heat a soup kettle over medium heat and add the chopped pork.
Add the onions on top, cover the pot, and let them cook together for a few minutes.
Add the sliced potatoes and nearly fill the pot with hot water.
When the potatoes are almost done, add the clams and season with salt and pepper.
Cook for a few moments, then add the flour and milk mixture to thicken.
Adjust the thickness by adding more or less of the flour and milk mixture as needed.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + porktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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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
- Soft shell clams
- Provide the main flavor and tender meat that defines the chowder.
- Potatoes
- Add body and starch that soften into the broth and make it hearty.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat that carries flavor into the pot before the other ingredients cook.
- Onions
- Add savory sweetness and aroma as they soften in the rendered pork fat.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid as its starch cooks, giving the chowder a creamy body.
- Milk
- Adds richness and creaminess to the broth, combined with the flour to thicken it.
The step that matters
Adding the flour and milk mixture. Flour must be fully mixed with milk before it goes in and then cooked for a few moments, so starch hydrates and swells evenly. Adding it lumpy or too early can leave clumps or a pasty texture.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, potato, pork, milk, flour, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, potato, pork, milk, flour, 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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