Why it works: Ham and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Chopped Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the butter in a frying pan.
Crack the eggs into the pan.
Stir in the cooked ham.
Cook until the eggs are set.
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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Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set into a soft, tender structure as they cook, forming the body of the scramble.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps keep the eggs from sticking to the pan.
- Ham
- Contributes savory, salty flavor and a chewy bite to the eggs.
The step that matters
Cook until the eggs are set. Egg proteins coagulate with heat, so removing the pan at the right moment keeps the eggs tender. Overcooking squeezes out moisture and makes them dry and rubbery.
“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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