Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Stewed Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the beef into neat small dice.
Cook
In a clean stewpan, combine boiling water, beef, salt, pepper, and minced onion.
Boil the mixture sharply for half a minute.
Reduce the heat and simmer for one hour or until the beef is tender.
Mix flour with cold water and stir into the beef to thicken.
Serve
Serve warm.
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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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together32,460 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef buttock steak
- Provides the main protein, which becomes tender with slow simmering.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid into a light sauce when stirred in.
- Onion
- Adds savory sweetness and aroma to the broth as it softens.
The step that matters
Stirring in the flour and cold water. Flour mixed into cold water first disperses evenly, so it does not clump when added to hot liquid. Starch then thickens the broth as it heats.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, flour):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Okrafits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, flour. 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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