Why it works: Crab and butter work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 812 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
Broiled Crabs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the crabs as directed.
Place them in a double broiler over clear hot coals.
Cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
Serve with melted butter and lemon juice poured over.
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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Crab + buttertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together812 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Crab + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together387 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Crabs
- Provide the main protein, which cooks through over direct heat to become firm and opaque.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and moisture, carrying flavour over the cooked crab.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and sharpens the sweetness of the crab.
The step that matters
Cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Crab meat turns tough and dry if overcooked, so watch it closely once it is hot. Cook until the flesh turns firm and opaque, then serve promptly.
“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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