Why it works: Pork and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,387 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Beef Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Grind the round steak and salt pork together.
In a bowl, mix the ground meat with eggs, rolled crackers, and salt.
Shape and steam
Pack the mixture into a mold.
Steam the loaf for 3 hours.
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.
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Pork + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,387 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Round steak
- Forms the main body of the loaf and supplies the protein that sets when cooked.
- Salt pork
- Adds fat that keeps the loaf moist and carries flavor through the meat.
- Eggs
- Bind the meat and help the loaf hold its shape as the proteins set with heat.
- Rolled crackers
- Absorb juices and fat, helping the loaf stay moist and hold together.
The step that matters
Steam the loaf for 3 hours. Long, gentle steam heats the meat evenly and sets the egg and protein slowly, keeping the loaf moist. Rapid, intense heat would tighten the proteins and make the loaf dry and firm.
“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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