Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Tea
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Combine minced beef and cold water in a pot.
Cook over gentle heat, stirring occasionally, until it boils for a few minutes.
Pour off the liquid for future use.
Rub the meat into a paste.
Ferment and finish
Transfer the paste to a clean jar or bottle.
Add the reserved liquid.
Mix in zymine and bicarbonate of soda. Shake well.
Set aside in a warm place (100°F to 115°F) for three hours, stirring occasionally.
After three hours, boil the mixture quickly.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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 + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 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
- Lean beef
- Provides the protein and meaty flavour that form the body of the tea.
- Zymine
- Acts as an enzyme source that breaks down the meat during the warm standing period.
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Raises the pH of the mixture, which helps the enzymes act on the meat.
The step that matters
Holding the mixture warm for three hours. Enzyme activity depends on temperature, so the mixture must stay within the stated warm range; too cold slows breakdown and too hot can destroy the enzymes before they work.
“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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