Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
To Clartfy Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Whisk the egg whites in 1 pint of water.
Break the sugar into small pieces and place it in a clean pan.
Pour 6 quarts of soft water over the sugar.
Clarify the sugar
Heat the pan on a clear fire to melt the sugar without boiling.
When it begins to rise, add 1 pint of water to stop the boiling.
Repeat adding 1 pint of water as it rises again, for 2-3 times.
Remove the scum that rises to the top.
Continue to simmer and add a little water to help the remaining scum rise.
Once the scum is white and tough, remove it.
Check if the sugar is clear by dipping your finger; if a drop hangs, it's ready for use.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Coagulate when heated, trapping impurities so they rise as scum that can be removed.
- Lump sugar
- The main sweetener and the substance being purified into a clear syrup.
The step that matters
Heating without boiling. Sugar syrup that boils hard before the scum has formed and been skimmed will stay cloudy and carry impurities through. Adding small amounts of water when it rises keeps the boil in check so the egg white can coagulate and lift the scum cleanly.
“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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