Why it works: Pepper and beef 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 ↓
Beef Hash
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Heat the gravy or stock in a saucepan until boiling.
In a small bowl, mix the butter and flour to create a roux.
Add the roux to the boiling gravy, stirring until smooth.
Season with salt, pepper, and any additional spices.
Finish and serve
Gently stir in the minced beef, ensuring it is well combined.
Heat the mixture until very hot, but do not let it boil.
Serve the hash on a hot dish over buttered toast, with hot boiled rice around it.
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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Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + ricetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,265 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Pepper + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Meat + beeftop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,533 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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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
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavour, and helps bind the flour into a roux.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy or stock into a smooth, lightly body sauce when cooked with the butter.
- Gravy or stock
- Provides the liquid base and savoury flavour that the hash is built on.
- Cold steak or roasted beef
- Supplies the main meat and savoury flavour of the hash.
The step that matters
Heat the mixture until very hot, but do not let it boil. Boiling the sauce after the minced beef is added can toughen the meat and cause the thickened sauce to break or become grainy. Gentle heating keeps the meat tender and the sauce smooth.
“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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