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 ↓
Clam Soup with Poached Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the clams
Clean and pick over clams, using three-quarters cup cold water; reserve liquor.
Put aside the soft part of the clams; finely chop the hard part, add to the liquor, bring gradually to boiling point, strain, then thicken with butter and flour cooked together.
Make the soup
Scald milk with onion, remove onion, add milk and soft part of clams to the stock; cook two minutes.
Add seasonings, and pour over the whites of eggs beaten stiff.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Shrimp | 100g cooked | 99 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| 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).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Clam + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together840 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clams
- Supply the main flavour and the body of the soup stock.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base of the soup and softens its flavour.
- Butter
- Enriches the soup with fat and, cooked with flour, helps thicken it.
- Flour
- Thickens the stock when cooked together with butter into a roux.
- Eggs
- Beaten whites add a light, airy texture to the soup.
The step that matters
Pour over the beaten egg whites. Whites beaten stiff trap air only if they stay whipped; folding gently rather than stirring keeps the foam from collapsing and deflating in the hot soup.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, milk, butter, flour, pepper, nutmeg, egg):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, milk, butter, flour, pepper, nutmeg, 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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