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University Hash

A hash of chopped meat, cooked rice, sweet milk, butter, salt, pepper, and egg, baked until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

University Hash

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Cook on the stove

  1. In a pot, combine chopped meat, cooked rice, sweet milk, butter, salt, and pepper.

  2. Stir the mixture and cook on the stove for 15 minutes.

  3. Add the egg and mix well.

Bake

  1. Transfer the mixture to an oven-safe dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

  2. Check for doneness by testing if it sets like custard.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,374 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,379 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Meat + ricetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg
Binds the mixture and sets like custard as it bakes, holding the hash together.
Sweet milk
Adds moisture and richness, and helps the mixture set into a custard-like texture.
Cooked rice
Provides bulk and body, absorbing liquid so the hash holds its shape.
Chopped meat
Provides the main savory flavor and substance of the dish.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Testing for doneness. The egg and milk set like a custard as they bake. Underbaking leaves the centre loose and wet, while overbaking can make the egg mixture dry and grainy, so checking for a custard-like set matters.

“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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