Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Baked Shrimp
eight individual dishesIngredients
Directions
Prepare
One can shrimp will make eight individual dishes.
Break shrimp in small pieces, salt and pepper to taste, add one small grated onion.
Make the sauce
Bring one pint milk or cream to a boil, thicken with one tablespoon flour mixed until smooth in one tablespoon butter.
When cream is thick pour over shrimp and mix well.
Bake
Fill shells with mixture, cover with bread crumbs and dot with butter.
Bake until brown.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 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.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, creamy sauce that holds the shrimp together.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, which thickens as it heats.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor to the sauce and helps the topping brown.
- Shrimp (in the method)
- Provides the main protein and flavor of the filling.
- Bread crumbs (in the method)
- Forms a crisp, browned topping over the filling.
The step that matters
Thicken the cream before adding the shrimp. Flour must be mixed smooth into butter and cooked in hot milk until thick. If the sauce is still thin when poured over the shrimp, it will not coat the filling and will run in the dishes.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, butter, pepper):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, butter, pepper. 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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