Why it works: Ham and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
To Fry Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the ham in half to get a good balance of fat and lean meat.
Place the ham in a pan and cover it to cook tenderly in the steam.
When nearly done, uncover the ham to allow steam to evaporate and let it brown slightly.
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 + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Provides the main protein and fat, and its fat balance keeps the meat moist and flavourful while cooking.
- Butter or fat for frying
- Conducts heat to the pan surface and promotes browning and rich flavour on the ham.
The step that matters
Uncovering the ham to brown. Leaving the lid on too long keeps the surface wet from trapped steam, so it will not brown. Uncovering near the end lets moisture evaporate so the surface can caramelise.
“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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