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Pried Ham and Eggs

A dish of fried ham slices topped with fried eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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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 ↓

Pried Ham and Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Cut the ham into thin slices and remove the rind.

  2. Heat a frying pan and cook the ham slices until crisp, about 3 minutes, turning often.

  3. Transfer the ham to a hot platter.

Fry the eggs

  1. Rinse the pan and return the clear grease to fry the eggs.

  2. Break each egg into a saucer to check for bad eggs, then gently slip them into the frying pan.

  3. Do not turn the eggs; instead, spoon hot grease over them while frying.

  4. Cook the eggs for about 3 minutes until the whites are transparent and the yolks are visible.

  5. Remove the eggs with a spatula, trim any discolored edges, and place one on each slice of ham.

  6. Serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Provides savory, salty flavor and a crisp texture when fried.
Eggs
Set into the cooked base of the dish, giving structure and rich flavor.
Lard or cooking oil
Conducts heat to fry the ham and eggs and adds richness.

The step that matters

Spooning hot grease over the eggs. Eggs are not turned, so spooning hot fat over them cooks the whites on top and sets the surface without breaking the yolks. Gentle heat keeps the whites tender rather than rubbery.

“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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