Why it works: Shrimp and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,931 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Shrimp Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Pound the shelled shrimp until finely minced.
Gradually add the fresh butter while continuing to pound.
Mix in a pinch of cayenne pepper. Pound all ingredients together until well combined.
Rub the mixture through a sieve to achieve a smooth texture.
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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Shrimp + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,931 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Shrimp + peppertop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,692 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylethanol (rose, floral).
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Shrimp + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,829 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Shrimp
- Provides the main flavour and, when pounded fine, the body of the butter.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, letting the shrimp pound into a spreadable, smooth paste.
- Hard boiled egg yolk
- Adds a dry, creamy richness that helps bind the pounded mixture into a smooth paste.
The step that matters
Rub the mixture through a sieve. Pounding alone leaves fibrous bits of shrimp, so pressing the mixture through a sieve breaks them down further and gives the smooth texture the recipe calls for.
“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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