Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Hashed Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gravy
Combine beef trimmings, broken bones, onions, potatoes, herbs, and warm water or broth in a stew-pan to make the gravy.
Cover and simmer for about 1 hour.
Skim and strain, removing all fat.
Make the hash
Melt the butter in another pot.
Stir in the flour for a few minutes.
Add the strained gravy to the pot and bring to a boil.
Stir in the ketchup and the sliced beef, then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes without boiling.
Serve
Serve in a deep dish with toast slices arranged around the sides, dipped in gravy.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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 + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + walnuttop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together342 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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
- Leftover roast beef
- Provides the meat and savory flavor, and its juices enrich the gravy.
- Onions
- Break down during simmering, adding sweetness and depth to the gravy.
- Potatoes
- Soften as they cook and give the hash body and starchy substance.
- Butter
- Provides fat for the roux and rich flavor in the gravy.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy when cooked briefly in the melted butter.
- Ketchup
- Adds sweetness, acidity and tang to the gravy.
The step that matters
Simmer the beef without boiling. Boiling toughens cooked meat and makes it dry and stringy. Holding the gravy at a gentle simmer keeps the beef tender and juicy.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, potato, butter, flour, ketchup):
- Beansfits better
- Sesamefits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, potato, butter, flour, ketchup. 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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