Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Clam Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
In a kettle, fry the salt pork for a few minutes until browned.
Add the sliced onions and cook until brown, chopping with a knife.
Add the clams and finish
Stir in the sliced potatoes and chopped clams.
If the mixture is too thick, add water to reach desired consistency.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the soaked Boston crackers, boil for 2 minutes, and serve.
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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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Pork + clamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together305 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt pork
- Renders fat for frying and adds savory, salty flavour to the base.
- Onions
- Browning them builds sweetness and savory depth in the chowder.
- Potatoes
- Starch thickens the broth and gives the chowder its body.
- Clams
- Provide the main seafood flavour and briny taste.
- Boston crackers
- Soaked in milk, they soften and thicken the chowder further.
The step that matters
Add the soaked Boston crackers, boil for 2 minutes, and serve.. Crackers can scorch or turn gluey if left too long. A brief boil is enough to heat them through and thicken the broth without breaking them down into paste.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, potato, clam, pepper, milk):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, potato, clam, pepper, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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