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 ↓
Beef Steaks
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the steaks
Trim the beef sirloin slices, removing the bone and skin.
Tenderize the slices by beating them on both sides with a wooden beetle or rolling pin.
Rub the slices with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Warm the butter until it is soft.
Spread the softened butter over the steaks.
Sprinkle minced onions over the steaks.
Cover the steaks.
Let the steaks marinate for at least an hour.
Cook and serve
Broil the steaks over a clear fire.
Slice the cold boiled potatoes.
Fry the sliced potatoes in butter.
Serve the fried potatoes around the steaks.
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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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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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef sirloin
- Forms the main body of the dish; beating it on both sides tenderizes the meat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the steaks and browns the fried potatoes.
- Onions
- Add mild sweetness and aroma as they sit on the steaks during marinating.
- Cold boiled potatoes
- Frying the sliced potatoes in butter gives them a golden, crisp surface.
The step that matters
Beating the beef on both sides. Beating breaks up the muscle fibres and connective tissue, which makes sirloin more tender. Uneven beating leaves tough spots, so each slice should be struck evenly across its surface.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, butter, potato):
- Onionthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, butter, potato. 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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