Why it works: Egg and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 34% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 23,333 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Onion Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Slice and fry the onion in a little oil until golden.
Cook the omelet
Beat the eggs in a bowl and pour them into the pan.
Cook until the edges are set.
Add the fried onion on top.
Carefully fold the omelet and serve immediately.
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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Egg + oniontop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,333 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Egg and onion barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,333 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set into a tender structure that holds the omelet together when folded.
- Onion
- Adds sweetness and savory flavor as it browns in the oil.
The step that matters
Cook until the edges are set. Cooking the egg only until the edges are set keeps the centre moist; overcooking turns the eggs rubbery and dry, and underdone eggs will not fold cleanly.
“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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