Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Steamed Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix the milk and extract together.
Gently drop the egg into the mixture and sprinkle with salt.
Steam and serve
Place the cup in a saucepan with enough water to come halfway up the cup.
Boil slowly for five minutes.
Serve on a slice of buttered toast.
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 + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 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
- Provides the main structure, setting into a soft, tender custard as it heats.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness, giving the egg a creamier texture.
- Extract
- Adds aroma and flavour to the egg mixture.
The step that matters
Boil slowly for five minutes. Egg proteins set gently at moderate heat. Vigorous boiling can make the egg tough and rubbery and can cause bubbles or a pitted surface, so the water should only bubble gently.
“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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