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 ↓
Fried Ham and Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the ham
Trim the rind from the ham and place the slices in a hot frying pan until crisp.
Transfer the ham to a hot platter and pour off some grease from the pan.
Fry the eggs
Crack each egg into a saucer to check for bad eggs, then gently slip them into the frying pan.
Do not turn the eggs; tilt the pan to allow hot lard to cook the tops.
Cook for about three minutes until the egg whites are transparent and the yolks are visible.
Place a fried egg on each slice of ham and serve hot.
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 + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Eggs
- Egg whites set into a firm structure while the yolks stay soft and runny.
- Thin slices of ham
- Crisped in the pan to add savory flavor and a firm, chewy texture.
- Lard or cooking oil
- Conducts heat to the pan and the egg tops, and adds richness and flavor.
The step that matters
Do not turn the eggs; tilt the pan to allow hot lard to cook the tops.. Turning breaks the yolk and cooks it too firmly. Tilting the pan so hot fat spoons over the surface sets the whites on top gently while the yolk stays runny.
“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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