Why it works: Beef and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,052 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Beef Hash
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the cold cooked beef and cold boiled potatoes very fine, using half as much meat as potatoes.
Cook the hash
In a saucepan, combine boiling water and butter; bring to a boil.
Add the chopped meat and potatoes, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Cook while stirring occasionally until a coating forms at the bottom of the pan.
Ensure the hash is firm and not watery.
Serve
Serve on buttered toast.
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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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold cooked beef
- Provides the main savoury meat flavour and the body of the hash.
- Cold boiled potatoes
- Bind with the meat and add starchy body to the hash.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the hash brown lightly in the pan.
The step that matters
Cook until a coating forms and the hash is firm. Cooking with stirring until a crust forms at the bottom drives off surplus moisture. If the hash stays wet, it will steam rather than brown and turn out soggy.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, pepper):
- Potatothe original
- Onionfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, 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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