Why it works: Meat and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,777 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Pan-broiled Steak or Chops
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pan
Wipe and trim the meat, cutting through tough tissue around the edges.
Heat the fat trimmings in a hot frying pan until the oil is extracted and very hot.
Cook
Add the steak or chops to the pan and sear thoroughly on both sides.
Cook a 1-inch thick steak for about 15 minutes, turning frequently to prevent scorching.
Season and serve
Season with salt and pepper just 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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Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,777 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Steak or chops
- Forms the main body of the dish, browning on the surface while the inside cooks through.
- Fat trimmings from the meat
- Render into hot oil that conducts heat evenly and sears the meat's surface.
The step that matters
Sear in a very hot pan. The pan and rendered fat must be very hot before the meat goes in. High surface heat drives browning, which gives flavor and color. In a cool pan the meat steams and turns grey instead of searing.
“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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