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 with Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the ham
If the ham is very salty, parboil it before frying.
Cook the ham and eggs
Fry the ham in a skillet, turning often, until browned.
Remove the ham to a hot platter.
In the same skillet, fry the eggs in the ham fat, spooning the grease over the tops until the whites are set.
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.
-
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
- Salted ham
- Provides the main savory meat and the fat that is used to cook the eggs.
- Eggs
- Set into a firm white when cooked, forming the main contrast to the ham.
The step that matters
Parboiling very salty ham. Simmering the ham in water before frying draws out some of its surface salt, so the finished dish is less overly salty. Cooks who skip this with heavily cured ham often end up with a dish that tastes too salty.
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.