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Fried Oyster-Plant

Fried oyster-plant roots in a batter, fried in lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Oyster and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,103 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Fried Oyster-Plant

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Scrape the oyster-plant roots.

  2. Cut the roots into 1.5‑inch pieces.

  3. Place the pieces in ice water mixed with vinegar to prevent discoloration.

Boil and cool

  1. Boil the pieces in hot salted water for nearly an hour.

  2. Drain the boiled pieces.

  3. Let the pieces cool.

Batter and fry

  1. Beat an egg with milk, flour, salt, and pepper to make a batter.

  2. Dip each piece in the batter.

  3. Fry the battered pieces in hot lard, a few at a time.

  4. Drain off excess fat.

  5. Serve on a hot dish lined with tissue paper.

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. Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

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

  2. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Oyster-plant roots
Provide the starchy, vegetable body that becomes tender inside the crisp coating.
Egg
Binds the batter so it clings to the pieces and helps it set when fried.
Prepared flour
Thickens the batter and forms the crisp, browned outer coating during frying.
Milk
Thins the egg and flour into a pourable batter that coats each piece evenly.
Lard
Conducts heat for frying and gives the coating its golden browning and rich flavor.

The step that matters

Frying the battered pieces. Fry only a few pieces at a time in hot lard. Crowding lowers the fat temperature, so the batter soaks up grease instead of crisping and browning quickly.

“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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