Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Corned Beef Hash
Ingredients
Directions
In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the chopped corned beef, cubed potatoes, and chopped onion.
Season with salt and pepper, and fry until the underside is nice and brown.
Fold the hash in half and turn it out onto a heated platter.
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.
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.
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corned beef
- Supplies the main meaty flavor and chewy texture of the hash.
- Potatoes
- Adds starch and body, and their cut surfaces brown into crisp bits.
- Onion
- Adds sweetness and aroma as it softens and browns in the fat.
- Butter
- Adds fat that carries flavor and helps the surface brown.
The step that matters
Fry until the underside is nice and brown. Browning, known as the Maillard reaction, needs direct contact with the hot pan and time without stirring. Pressing the hash and leaving it undisturbed builds a crust, while moving it too often keeps it steamed and pale.
“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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