Why it works: Butter and shrimp are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,931 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Scrambled Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the butter in a pan over low heat.
Crack the eggs into the pan and stir continuously.
Remove from heat while the eggs are still slightly liquid.
If desired, add peeled shrimps or oysters with a pinch of cayenne before serving.
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.
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Butter + shrimptop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,931 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + shrimptop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,692 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylethanol (rose, floral).
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Egg + shrimptop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,829 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set into soft curds that give the scramble its structure and body.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a rich flavour and keeps the eggs from sticking and drying out.
The step that matters
Remove from heat while the eggs are still slightly liquid.. Eggs keep cooking from residual heat in the pan, so pulling them off early prevents a dry, rubbery texture.
“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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