Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Steaks
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Cut the beef into steaks about ½ inch thick and beat them with a chopper.
Shape the steaks into round or oblong pieces as preferred.
Rub the steaks with a damp cloth (do not wash with water) and lay them in the hot ghee.
Cook the steaks
Heat the ghee in a frying pan until hot.
Fry the steaks on a brisk fire for a few minutes, then turn them over.
Sprinkle the turned side with pepper and salt, then turn again and season the other side.
Cook until the meat is tender, then remove the steaks to a warm dish.
Make the gravy and serve
Slice the onions very finely and fry them until half brown, then place them over the steaks.
Make the gravy by adding 2 tablespoons of hot water to the frying pan with a pinch of pepper and salt.
Stir until the gravy is brown, then pour it over the steaks and onions.
Serve with mashed potatoes or burta.
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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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + gheetop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together135 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Ghee + oniontop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,310 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fat beef
- Fat within the cut carries flavour and keeps the steaks moist as they cook.
- Ghee
- Hot fat conducts heat for browning the steak surfaces and adds a rich, nutty flavour.
- Onions
- Frying them until half brown adds sweetness and savoury depth that complements the beef.
The step that matters
Rub the steaks with a damp cloth, then lay them in hot ghee. Surface moisture and water would lower the pan temperature and steam the meat instead of searing it. A dry surface in very hot fat gives the browning that builds flavour.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, ghee, pepper):
- Potatofits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, ghee, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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