Why it works: Potato and onion 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 Hash
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, mix together the chopped potatoes, beef, and onion.
Heat a buttered frying pan over medium-high heat.
Add the mixture to the pan and cook until heated through and slightly crispy.
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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Potato + oniontop 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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Potato + beeftop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the bulk of the hash and crisp up to a golden, slightly crunchy surface when fried.
- Beef
- Supplies the savory, meaty flavor and substance that defines the hash.
- Onion
- Adds sweetness and aroma as it softens and cooks alongside the potatoes and beef.
- Butter
- Conducts heat in the pan and adds richness and browning to the surface.
The step that matters
Cooking the mixture until slightly crispy. Pressing the hash and leaving it undisturbed in hot fat lets its surface brown through the Maillard reaction, which creates crispness and flavor. Stirring too often steams the mixture instead and it stays soft.
“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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