Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Clam Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the water in a large pot.
Add the minced onion and potato squares to the boiling water.
Cut the clams into small pieces and add them to the pot.
Season with butter and salt pork to taste.
Once cooked, stir in the milk and serve.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + porktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Clam + porktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together305 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clams
- Provide the main seafood flavor and body of the chowder.
- Potatoes
- Add starch that thickens the broth and gives the chowder its heartiness.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness to the broth.
- Salt pork
- Adds savory fat and depth of flavor to the broth.
The step that matters
Stir in the milk after cooking. Milk can curdle or scorch if it boils hard for long, so it is added once the clams and potatoes are cooked and the pot is held at a gentle heat.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, potato, butter, pork, milk):
- Onionthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, potato, butter, pork, milk. 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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