Why it works: Cream and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Hominy Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the boiled hominy, cream, corn starch, eggs, baking powder, and salt to form a batter.
If the batter is too stiff, add a little more cream.
Fry
Drop large spoonfuls of the batter into hot fat 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.
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Cream + corntop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Corn + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,484 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Hominy
- Forms the bulk of the fritter and gives it a soft, starchy body.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help set the fritters as they cook.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness and loosens the batter.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the batter and helps the fritters crisp on the outside.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during cooking so the fritters puff and lighten.
The step that matters
Frying in hot fat. If the fat is not hot enough, the batter absorbs oil and turns greasy instead of forming a crisp, golden crust. Hot fat sets the outside quickly so the inside cooks through.
“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
Corn Cake90 recipes
Corn Starch Cake89 recipes
Corn Cakes22 recipes
Green Corn Pudding14 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.