Why it works: Egg and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,991 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Matzo Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat the yolks of the eggs lightly with the chicken grease.
Stir in enough sifted matzo meal until a smooth batter forms.
Fold in the beaten egg whites and add a pinch of salt.
Cook and serve
Bring a portion of soup stock to a boil and drop in the matzo balls.
Cook the balls for 30 minutes before serving them in the soup.
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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Egg + chickentop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,991 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and binding, while whipped whites lighten the batter and help the balls rise.
- Matzo meal
- Forms the body of the dumplings, absorbing liquid to create a firm, tender structure.
- Chicken grease
- Adds fat for flavour and tenderness, keeping the matzo balls from drying out.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whites hold air that lightens the batter. Stirring them in vigorously deflates them, leaving dense rather than fluffy matzo balls.
“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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