Name: Soft-boiled Egg, Bacon & Watercress Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients: 2 large eggs , at room temperature; 1 shallot , very finely chopped; 1 tbsp red wine vinegar; 1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard; 2 tbsp rapeseed oil; handful chives , snipped (optional); 4 thick rashers streaky smoked dry-cured bacon; 2 slices good white crusty bread (ideally sourdough); 2 good handfuls British watercress , thick stems removed

Why it works: Shallot and chive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 450 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Soft-boiled Egg, Bacon & Watercress Salad

Serves 2

Prep10 min

Cook5 min

Ingredients

2 large eggs , at room temperature
1 shallot , very finely chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
handful chives , snipped (optional)
4 thick rashers streaky smoked dry-cured bacon
2 slices good white crusty bread (ideally sourdough)
2 good handfuls British watercress , thick stems removed

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

687Calories

28 gProtein

11 gFat

116 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sourdough	1 slice (36g)	93
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Watercress	1 cup (34g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Chive	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Rapeseed Oil	not in our table	0

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

By bbcgoodfood. 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.

Shallot + chivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together450 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Shallot + watercresstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together93 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Chive + watercresstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together97 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Mustard + watercresstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together293 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Shallot + mustardtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together859 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the chive

The recipe marks chive as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, shallot, red wine, vinegar, mustard, bread, watercress):

Horseradishfits better
Chivethe original
Lettucefits less well
Welsh onionfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, shallot, red wine, vinegar, mustard, bread, watercress. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.