Why it works: Meat and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,364 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Shoulder, Roast
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Roast
Start with a slow fire to gradually heat the meat.
Once heated, increase the fire to brown the meat thoroughly.
Cook until the meat begins to pull away from the gristly part of the blade bone.
Pierce the skin with a fork in several places to let out excess fat.
Serve
Serve hot with onion or oyster sauce.
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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Meat + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,364 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
- Shoulder of meat
- Forms the main body of the dish; its fat and connective tissue soften and moisten during slow roasting.
The step that matters
Start with a slow fire. Heating the meat gradually lets fat render and connective tissue soften before the surface browns. Starting too hot can scorch the outside while the centre stays tough.
“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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