Why it works: Mushroom and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,515 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Minced Meat
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mince the scraps of cold meat on a cutting board using a sharp knife.
Cook
In a saucepan, combine the minced meat, flour, stock, and mushroom ketchup. Season with pepper and salt.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and warm the mixture through, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Serve
Serve the mince on a hot dish, surrounded by boiled rice or mashed potatoes.
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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Mushroom + ricetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,515 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Meat + ricetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Ketchup + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,435 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Thickens the stock into a cohesive, spoonable sauce around the meat.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds savory depth and umami to the meat mixture.
- Patna rice or potatoes
- Provides a starchy base that the mince is served on.
The step that matters
Warming the mixture over medium heat while stirring. Flour-thickened mixtures can scorch or stick to the bottom of the pan at heat, and the flour needs to be fully warmed through to thicken the sauce evenly. Occasional stirring keeps the mixture smooth and prevents burnt patches.
“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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