Why it works: Ham and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Fried Ham and Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
If the ham is very salty, soak it in cold water and bring to a boil once. Drain the water, then fry the ham quickly in a skillet.
Once the ham is done, place it on a platter and pour any remaining fat from the skillet over it.
Rinse the skillet to remove excess salt, then add fresh lard and heat it.
Carefully drop a few eggs at a time into the hot lard and fry until done.
Garnish the ham by placing the fried eggs around it.
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 + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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