Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Clam Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the clams
Stew the clams until done, then remove from heat.
Remove the hard edge and chop the clams into small pieces.
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix milk, flour, eggs, salt, and baking powder to create a batter.
Thoroughly mix the chopped clams into the batter.
Fry
Heat lard in a pan and fry spoonfuls of the batter 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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + clamtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together636 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Flour + clamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together576 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Milk and flour 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure of the batter once it sets in the hot fat.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lightens the batter and helps the fritters rise.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and gives the batter its liquid body and tenderness.
- Clams
- Supply the main flavour and chewy texture through the fritters.
The step that matters
Frying the batter spoonfuls. The fat must be hot enough that the outside sets and browns quickly; if it is too cool, the fritters absorb grease and turn heavy and greasy 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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