Name: How to Make Stovetop Popcorn, Mark Bittman’s Way
Ingredients: 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I prefer to use coconut oil or olive oil); 1⁄2 cup popping corn; 2 to 4 tablespoons butter or olive oil, optional; Salt and other seasonings, optional (I added chopped dark chocolate and chili powder)

Why it works: Coconut and corn match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 306 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

How to Make Stovetop Popcorn, Mark Bittman’s Way

Ingredients

2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I prefer to use coconut oil or olive oil)
1⁄2 cup popping corn
2 to 4 tablespoons butter or olive oil, optional
Salt and other seasonings, optional (I added chopped dark chocolate and chili powder)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

744Calories

7 gProtein

62 gFat

45 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By cookieandkate. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Coconut + corntop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together306 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Coconut + chocolatetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,107 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Coconut + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,467 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,345 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Butter + chocolatetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,543 recipes

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

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

Swap the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, butter, chocolate):

Coconutthe original
Vanillafits about as well
Cherryfits less well
Avocadofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, butter, chocolate. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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