Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
Steamed Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the ham in cold water for 12 hours.
Wash the ham thoroughly, using a stiff brush to remove any salt.
Steam
Place the ham in a steamer and cover it tightly.
Put the steamer over fast boiling water, allowing 30 minutes of cooking time for each pound.
Keep the water at a steady boil.
Finish and serve
Remove the skin and sprinkle fine bread crumbs over the ham before serving.
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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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Provides the main meat and savory flavor of the dish.
- Fine bread crumbs
- Adds a light, dry coating that soaks up surface moisture and adds texture.
The step that matters
Keep the water at a steady boil. Steam is what cooks the ham, and water that drops below a boil produces less steam, so the ham cooks unevenly and takes longer. Keeping the boil steady maintains even heat through the steamer.
“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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