Why it works: Egg and oyster are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,103 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Oyster Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, make a batter by mixing the eggs and flour.
Add enough milk or water to achieve a smooth consistency.
Fry
For each fritter, place one oyster into a spoonful of batter.
Fry in hot oil until golden brown.
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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Egg + oystertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,103 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + oystertop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,933 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it set firm when fried.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the batter around each oyster.
- Oysters
- Supply the main flavor and sit at the centre of each fritter.
The step that matters
Frying in hot oil. Oil that is hot enough sets the batter quickly and browns it before it can soak up grease. If the oil is too cool, the batter absorbs oil, turns heavy and greasy, and the oyster may cook unevenly.
“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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