Name: Hot Bacon Dressing
Ingredients: 5 strips bacon, diced; ¾ cup water; 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar; 1 egg, slightly beaten; 4 tablespoons sugar; 1 tablespoon flour; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓

Hot Bacon Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Place bacon pieces in a medium saucepan and heat over medium.
Fry bacon until crisp, then add water and vinegar and heat to simmering.
Beat egg in a small bowl, then add sugar, flour, and salt.
Add to mixture in saucepan.
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

628Calories

22 gProtein

10 gFat

108 gCarbs

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
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
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.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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.

Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Apple cider vinegar + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together455 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Apple cider vinegar + eggtop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together193 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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

Bacon: Renders fat and leaves crisp pieces that flavour the warm dressing.
Apple cider vinegar: Adds acidity that sharpens the dressing and balances the sugar.
Egg: Thickens the dressing as it cooks and gives it a smooth, rich body.
Flour: Helps thicken the dressing so it coats leaves instead of running off.
Sugar: Sweetens the dressing to balance the sharpness of the vinegar.

The step that matters

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened. The beaten egg can scramble if the mixture is heated unevenly or left unstirred. Constant stirring keeps the heat even, and the flour and egg thicken the dressing as they cook.

“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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Hot Bacon Dressing