Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Dried Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Slice the dried or smoked beef into thin slices or chips.
Place the slices in a frying pan and cover with boiling water.
Cook over heat for 10 minutes.
Drain the water.
Cut the beef into small bits with a knife and fork.
Return the beef to the hot pan.
Cook and serve
Add butter and pepper.
Beat the eggs and stir them into the pan with the beef.
Toss and stir the mixture for about 2 minutes.
Serve in a covered dish.
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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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Beef + eggtop 31% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried or smoked beef
- Provides the main savoury, salty flavour and meaty texture of the dish.
- Eggs
- Set as they cook, binding the beef pieces together into a soft, tender mixture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the eggs stay moist and the beef taste rounder.
The step that matters
Stirring the eggs into the beef. Eggs set quickly over heat. Stirring gently and tossing keeps the curds soft and evenly distributed; if left still too long they can overcook, turn dry and rubbery.
“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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