Why it works: Mushroom and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,515 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Minced Meat
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mince the scraps of cold meat with a sharp knife.
Make the mince
In a saucepan, combine the minced meat, flour, stock, and mushroom ketchup.
Season with pepper and salt.
Heat the saucepan on the stove to warm the mixture through, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Serve
Serve the mince on a hot dish with a border of boiled rice or mashed potatoes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Mushroom + ricetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,515 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Meat + ricetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Ketchup + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,435 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Thickens the stock and mushroom ketchup into a smooth, lightly clinging sauce around the meat.
- Stock
- Provides liquid that keeps the minced meat moist as it warms.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds deep savoury flavour to the sauce.
- Patna rice or potatoes
- Forms the boiled or mashed border that holds and accompanies the mince.
The step that matters
Stirring while heating. Flour and meat sit on the pan base and can scorch or stick before the sauce is hot through. Stirring occasionally spreads heat evenly and keeps the thickened sauce smooth.
“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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