Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Blintzes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Mix eggs with 3 cups of milk or water.
Add salt and flour and mix thoroughly.
Drain the dough to remove flour lumps.
Prepare the pan
Pour vegetable oil into a saucer.
Clean an onion, cut it into two parts, and dip one part in oil.
Use the oil-dipped onion to grease the pan each time.
Cook and serve
Heat the pan, grease it, and pour a thin layer of batter evenly.
Cook until light brown, about 2-3 minutes on each side.
Serve with butter, sour cream, herring, black or red caviar, fillet of sturgeon, lox, or salmon.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | 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.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together32,460 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + oniontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,418 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the batter's structure so the thin pancake holds together when cooked.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help set the thin pancake as it cooks.
- Milk
- Provides liquid that hydrates the flour and gives the batter a tender texture.
- Vegetable oil
- Greases the pan so the thin pancakes release without sticking and brown lightly.
The step that matters
Pour a thin layer of batter evenly. Batter spread thin and even cooks quickly and uniformly, while a thick or uneven layer cooks unevenly and may stay doughy in places or scorch in others.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, milk):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, milk. 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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