Name: Yams with Crispy Skins and Brown-Butter Vinaigrette
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Ingredients: 8 slender medium garnet yams or other yams (red-skinned sweet potatoes; about 5 pounds total), rinsed, dried; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter; 1 small shallot, peeled; 1 garlic clove, peeled; 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt plus additional for seasoning; 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard; 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar; Vegetable oil (for frying)

Why it works: Shallot and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 859 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Yams with Crispy Skins and Brown-Butter Vinaigrette

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

8 slender medium garnet yams or other yams (red-skinned sweet potatoes; about 5 pounds total), rinsed, dried
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 small shallot, peeled
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt plus additional for seasoning
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Vegetable oil (for frying)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

406Calories

5 gProtein

26 gFat

42 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Yam	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By epicurious. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Shallot + mustardtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together859 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Yam + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Yam + mustardtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together15 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Shallot + garlictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,000 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Shallot + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,677 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the yam

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, shallot, garlic, clove, mustard, red wine, vinegar):

Chivefits better
Horseradishfits better
Kalefits better
Yamthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, shallot, garlic, clove, mustard, red wine, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.