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Stewed Oysters

A buttery oyster stew made with corn starch, cream or milk, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Stewed Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and combine

  1. Wash and drain the oysters if they are in the shell.

  2. In a porcelain kettle, mix the butter and corn starch with the oysters.

Cook and finish

  1. Stir the mixture until it boils.

  2. Add the cream or milk and salt to taste.

  3. Do not use the liquor of the oysters.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  3. Butter + corntop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,345 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Cream + oystertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,886 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Corn + oystertop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together250 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Main ingredient that supplies the dish's savory, briny flavor and tender texture.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, mellow mouthfeel.
Corn starch
Thickens the liquid as it heats, giving the stew a silky body.
Cream or milk
Forms the liquid base, adding moisture, richness and a creamy texture.

The step that matters

Stir the mixture until it boils. Cornstarch only thickens once it reaches a boil, so the mixture must get there. Stirring keeps the starch evenly dispersed and prevents lumps and scorching on the bottom of the kettle.

“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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