Why it works: Butter and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Fried Steak— to Make Tender
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rub the steak with saleratus and let it stand for 2 hours or overnight.
Rinse off the saleratus quickly and wipe the steak dry.
Cook
Heat a skillet and grease it with butter.
Place the steak in the skillet, turning it often to sear and keep the juices inside.
Cover and set it on the back part of the stove for a short time.
Serve
Remove the steak to a hot platter and season with butter, salt, and pepper.
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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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Steak
- The main protein; turning it often sears the outside and helps keep juices inside.
- Saleratus
- Leavening alkali that raises the surface pH, which can help the steak brown during frying.
- Butter
- Greases the skillet and adds richness and flavor to the finished steak.
The step that matters
Turning the steak often in the skillet. Frequent turning builds an even sear on the outside while the interior cooks gently, which helps keep juices inside. Searing too long on one side can leave the surface scorched and the center underdone.
“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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