Why it works: Shallot and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,081 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Beef-tea
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Place the beef pieces in a jar with a tightly fitting lid and cover with cold water.
Optionally, add peppercorns and minced shallot for flavor.
Cook
Cook the jar in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1-2 hours or boil in a saucepan of water for 1.5 hours.
Finish
For thickening, mix boiled flour or arrow-root into the beef tea.
For added richness, beat an egg yolk in a cup and pour the hot beef tea over it.
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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Shallot + flourtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,081 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + shallottop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,103 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Shallot + eggtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,380 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Beef
- Provides the meat flavor and savory body of the broth as it slowly releases its juices.
- Boiled flour or arrow-root
- Thickens the liquid so it becomes a light, smooth body rather than thin broth.
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and body to the finished broth when poured in hot.
The step that matters
Beating the egg yolk before adding the hot beef tea. Pouring hot liquid onto a yolk too quickly can scramble it. Beating the yolk and adding the hot liquid gradually, while stirring, tempers it so it blends smoothly.
Swap the shallot
The recipe marks shallot as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, flour, egg):
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits about as well
- Shallotthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, flour, egg. 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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