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Drop Dumplings

Drop dumplings are small, boiled egg and flour dumplings used in clear soups.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Drop Dumplings

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Separate the whites of three eggs, milk, and sifted flour; stir together.

  2. Place mixture in a skillet with a tablespoon of butter.

  3. Let contents boil until the mixture leaves the side of the skillet clean.

  4. Remove skillet and stir mixture until cold.

  5. Add the yolks of the eggs.

  6. Season with salt and nutmeg.

Cook and serve

  1. Drop dumplings with a spoon that has been wet with cold water into boiling soup.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

694Calories
27 gProtein
15 gFat
109 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)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 a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Milk and flour 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

Eggs
Bind the dough and add richness and structure to the dumplings.
Flour
Forms the starch base that thickens and holds the dumplings together.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness to the dough.

The step that matters

Cooking the flour and milk mixture until it leaves the side of the skillet clean. Boiling gelatinizes the flour's starch and drives off excess moisture, so the mixture forms a stiff paste. If it is undercooked, the dumplings can turn gummy or fall apart in the soup.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, egg):

  1. Nutmegthe original
  2. Cinnamonfits about as well
  3. Jalapenofits about as well
  4. Turmericfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, egg. 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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