Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Bice Floub Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Pour in the boiling water and mix until smooth.
Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and stir them into the flour mixture.
Fry
In a pan, heat the lard until it is boiling hot.
Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot lard and fry 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.
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that give the puffs their body and structure.
- Boiling water
- Gelatinizes the flour's starch, creating a soft, pliable dough that holds its shape.
- Large eggs
- Add moisture and protein that bind the batter and help the puffs set and rise.
- Lard
- Conducts heat for frying and gives the puffs a crisp, golden-brown crust.
The step that matters
Frying in very hot lard. Dropping batter into lard that is boiling hot sets the outside quickly so the puffs rise and crisp. If the lard is cooler, the batter absorbs more fat and the puffs turn greasy and heavy.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.