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 ↓
Corned Beef Hash
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, mix the chopped corned beef, potatoes, and onion.
Heat a buttered frying pan over medium heat.
Cook
Add the mixture to the pan and moisten with soup stock or cream.
Cook slowly for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Season with salt and pepper, then add the butter.
When browned underneath, turn onto a hot platter.
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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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 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
- Corned beef
- Provides the main meaty flavor and bulk of the hash.
- Potatoes
- Add starch and body, helping the hash hold together and brown.
- Onion
- Adds savory sweetness and aroma as it softens in the pan.
- Soup stock or cream
- Moistens the mixture so it cooks through without drying out.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the underside brown in the pan.
The step that matters
Cook slowly and leave it alone until browned underneath. Cooking over steady medium heat lets the potatoes and meat develop a crisp, browned crust. Stirring only occasionally lets that crust form, while the liquid softens the potatoes inside.
“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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