Name: Chop Suey
Ingredients: 1 lb suet, finely chopped; ½ lb bacon, cut into fine shreds; lean beef or veal, cut into pieces ½ inch long and ¼ inch thick; 1 large Spanish onion, diced; 3 large stalks celery, diced; 12 sweet chestnuts, blanched and cut into shreds; coarse sea salt to taste; 1 gallon water for every 4 lbs meat

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 ↓

Chop Suey

Ingredients

1 lb suet, finely chopped
½ lb bacon, cut into fine shreds
lean beef or veal, cut into pieces ½ inch long and ¼ inch thick
1 large Spanish onion, diced
3 large stalks celery, diced
12 sweet chestnuts, blanched and cut into shreds
coarse sea salt to taste
1 gallon water for every 4 lbs meat

Directions

In a kettle, layer the suet and bacon and fry over low heat until browned.
Add the lean meat and stir briskly for 10 minutes until the meat is crisply browned.
Season with salt, then add the diced onion, diced celery, and shredded chestnuts.
Cover with water and boil until the water is gone, leaving a jelly-like moisture.
Ensure the mixture is a rich dark color from frying the suet and bacon.
Serve with very dry cooked rice on small separate dishes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Celery + chestnuttop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together231 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Onion + chestnuttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together696 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Beef + meattop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,533 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).