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Broiled Ham

Broiled ham slices served with fried eggs cooked in lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Broiled Ham

Why it works: Ham and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Broiled Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Cut the ham into very thin slices.

  2. Soak the slices in hot water for at least 30 minutes, changing the water several times.

  3. If using cold boiled ham, no soaking is needed.

  4. Dry the slices with a cloth.

Broil and fry

  1. Heat a grill or gridiron over a clear fire and broil the ham slices.

  2. For the eggs, heat lard in a frying pan until boiling.

  3. Break each egg into a saucer, then gently slip them into the frying pan.

  4. Do not turn the eggs; instead, pour hot lard over them while frying.

  5. Fry the eggs for about 3 minutes until the whites are transparent.

  6. Remove the eggs with a spatula, drain off excess lard, and trim any discolored edges.

Serve

  1. Place a fried egg on each slice of broiled ham and serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ham
Forms the base of the dish; broiling browns and firms its thin slices.
Lard
Fat that carries heat to the eggs, cooking the whites evenly and adding richness.
Eggs
Set into a firm white and a soft yolk, topping the ham as the main protein.

The step that matters

Spooning hot lard over the eggs while frying. Without turning, the whites stay raw on top. Hot fat poured over the surface cooks and sets the whites without breaking the yolk, so the lard must be hot enough to set the egg quickly.

“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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