Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Oyster Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Stir the tepid water and salad oil into the flour gradually until smooth.
Add salt to the batter.
Fold in the stiffly whipped egg whites.
Fry the oysters
Remove the gills from the oysters.
Dip the oysters in the batter.
Fry the battered oysters in hot fat until golden brown.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,103 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Flour
- Forms the bulk of the batter that coats and structures the fritter.
- Whites of 2 eggs
- Whipped whites trap air, lightening the batter so it puffs and stays tender.
- Salad oil or oiled butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the batter and helps it brown in the frying fat.
- Oysters
- Provide the main filling, with their own moisture and mild briny flavor.
The step that matters
Fold in the stiffly whipped egg whites. Whites deflate if overmixed or left to stand, so folding gently just until combined keeps the air that makes the batter light and puffy when fried.
“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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