Why it works: Crab and meat match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 448 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Remove the meat from boiled hard crabs and wash the shells.
Mix crab meat, bread crumbs, crumbled eggs, lemon juice, cayenne, and salt.
Fill and bake
Fill the crab shells with the mixture.
If you don't have cream, use Cream Sauce.
Sprinkle additional bread crumbs on top and add a lump of butter.
Brown in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Crab + meattop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
-
Lemon + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Bread + buttertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,145 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + buttertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,494 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Crab + buttertop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together812 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Crab meat
- Forms the main body of the filling and provides the seafood flavour.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and give the filling body, with extra crumbs browning on top.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Bind the filling and add richness to the crab mixture.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich crab and egg flavours.
- Butter
- Adds fat that helps the topping brown and gives richness.
“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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.