Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Egg Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the egg in a bowl.
Add the sugar and salt to the beaten egg.
Pour the hot milk over the mixture and stir gently.
Serve immediately.
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 + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Egg
- Its proteins set gently when heated, giving the broth body and a silky, lightly thickened texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the savoury notes of the egg and milk.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base, adding moisture and creaminess to the broth.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot milk over the egg. Egg proteins begin to set when heated, so hot liquid poured in quickly can curdle or leave cooked specks. Pouring slowly while stirring gently spreads the heat evenly and keeps the broth 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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