Why it works: Onion and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,214 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Fried Onions
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Fry the salt pork in a skillet until browned.
Add the sliced onions and chop continually with a knife.
Fry for 15 minutes, then add enough water to cover the onions.
Steam
Cover the skillet and steam for half an hour or until very tender, stirring occasionally.
Add more water if necessary.
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 + porktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Onions
- Provide the main bulk; they soften and turn sweet as they cook down.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat that fries the onions and adds savory flavor.
The step that matters
Steam until very tender. Onions need enough moisture and gentle heat to soften fully. Adding water and covering the pan traps steam, so the onions cook through rather than just browning on the surface.
“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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