Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Oyster Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the oyster liquor in a pot.
Once boiling, add salt, pepper, and butter.
Mix flour with a little water to make a batter, then add it to the pot while stirring continuously.
When the mixture boils again, add the beaten egg yolk and then the milk.
Once it boils up well, add the oysters and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent curdling.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,103 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Oysters
- Provide the main flavor and the soup's seafood base.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid so the soup becomes creamy rather than watery.
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and body, helping the soup become smooth and velvety.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the briny oyster flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a silky mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Adding the oysters and egg yolk mixture. Egg yolk can curdle if it overheats, and the stirring keeps it smooth. Once the oysters go in, cook only 2 minutes so they stay tender and do not toughen.
“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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