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Cook the Book: Asparagus with Butter and Soy

By seriouseats · From Open Recipes · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and butter match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,022 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 2
Prep10 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, soy (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Bring a wide pan of water to a gentle simmer and add a splash of white vinegar and a pinch of kosher salt.

  2. Heat the expeller-pressed vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the asparagus with a pinch of kosher salt and cook, turning often, for 4 to 5 minutes until bright green and tender-crisp.

  3. Crack each egg into a small cup, then slide it gently into the simmering water. Cook 3 to 4 minutes until the whites are fully set, then lift out with a slotted spoon.

  4. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the butter and soy sauce to the asparagus and toss until the butter melts and coats the spears.

  5. Divide the asparagus between two plates, top each portion with a poached egg, and finish with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

By seriouseats. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Asparagus + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,022 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Egg + asparagustop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,290 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Sauce + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together15,317 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Egg + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together118,511 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Vinegar + asparagustop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together439 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

Sauce and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 15,317 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs