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 Eggs with Minced Ham or Bacon
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the ham or bacon into very thin slices, then into small squares.
Heat a clean frying pan over low heat and add the ham or bacon.
Cook until the meat is transparent and some fat has rendered. If there's not enough fat, add a little more.
When it starts to boil, carefully break in the eggs, allowing the bits of ham or bacon to stick to them.
Serve on a fish drainer or on toast without butter, if preferred.
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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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
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