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Imitation Crab

A mixture of minced fowl meat and liver with cheese, onions, spices, and sauces.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Imitation Crab

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine the minced white meat and liver in a bowl.

  2. Add the pounded cheese, chopped onions, and chopped green chillies, then mix well together.

  3. Stir in the anchovy sauce, Harvey sauce, mustard, vinegar, mushroom ketchup, salt, black pepper, and sweet oil.

  4. Mix the entire mixture thoroughly.

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. Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Cheese + vinegartop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

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

What each ingredient does

White meat of fowl
Provides the main bulk and meaty texture of the imitation crab.
Liver of the fowl
Adds richness and depth of flavour to the mixture.
Pounded cheese
Adds savoury flavour and richness, helping bind the mixture.
Onions
Contribute moisture and savoury sharpness to the mixture.
Mushroom ketchup
Adds concentrated savoury, umami flavour.
Sweet oil
Adds fat, carrying flavour and giving the mixture a smoother texture.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, liver, cheese, anchovy, sauce, mustard, vinegar):

  1. Horseradishfits about as well
  2. Shallotfits about as well
  3. Lettucefits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, liver, cheese, anchovy, sauce, mustard, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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