Why it works: Egg and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Broth with Egg
Ingredients
Directions
Stir the egg yolk with cold water until well mixed.
Gradually add the broth while stirring constantly to prevent curdling.
If using the whole egg, beat it and prepare in the same way.
Use at least 8 ounces of broth to avoid richness.
Add a few drops of lemon if desired.
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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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolk
- Thickens the broth and adds richness and body as it sets gently with heat.
- Broth
- Forms the liquid base that the egg yolk is blended into and carries the flavor.
The step that matters
Gradually add the broth while stirring constantly. Adding broth slowly while stirring keeps the egg proteins dispersed, so they do not clump or curdle into bits when they meet the liquid.
“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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